Kharkiv: At least five people were killed on Tuesday as Russian shelling hit the centre of Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, the mayor said.

Igor Terekhov added that seven people were also wounded on his Telegram account.

The regional governor, Oleg Synegubov, gave a slightly lower death toll of four and said another four were injured.

"The Russian occupiers shelled the central districts of Kharkiv," Synegubov said on Telegram, as he warned residents to "stay inside the shelters".

Located in northeastern Ukraine just 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border, Kharkiv managed to repel efforts by Moscow's forces to take the city, which had a population of some 1.4 million residents before the war.

It has been heavily bombarded throughout the conflict, with hundreds of people killed, officials say.