Authorities in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russian forces said Tuesday that Ukrainian shelling on a city there had killed seven people.

"There are already seven dead and around 60 wounded" following artillery fire on Nova Kakhovka, the head of the city's Moscow-backed administration, Vladimir Leontiev, said on Telegram.

A deputy head of the occupying authorities in Kherson, Ekaterina Gubareva, also reported seven dead and accused Ukrainian forces of having used HIMARS multiple rocket launchers from the United States.

It was not immediately possible to independently verify these claims.

Images published by the occupying authorities showed several buildings reduced to ash.

"Dozens of homes have been hit... people are being extracted from the rubble," Leontiev said.

"There are no military targets here... warehouses were hit, as were shops, a pharmacy, petrol stations and even a church," he said.

Russian forces largely occupy the Kherson region, which lies next to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Russian forces seized the region's main city, also called Kherson, on March 3. It was the first major city to fall following the start of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine in late February.

The Ukrainian army has for several weeks being waging a counter-offensive on the southern Kherson front, while most Russian troops are deployed in the eastern Donbas region.

(AFP)

A sapper walks next to remains of a car destroyed by a Russian military strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. (Reuters)

Ukrainian shelling kills seven in occupied Kherson: Russian administration