At least seven people were killed and dozens injured in a Russian rocket attack on the city center of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, according to Kiev sources. A cruise missile struck a central square.
The Russian army has bombed the center of the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. According to official information, at least seven people were killed, including a child. At least 90 other people were injured in the shelling in the busy city center, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. Children are also among the injured. A cruise missile landed in a central square while people were on their way to church for a religious holiday.
“A Russian missile landed in the middle of the city center, in our Chernihiv,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in the online service Telegram. The Polytechnic University and a theater were also hit. “It’s an ordinary Saturday that Russia turned into a day of pain and loss.”
Shaded: territories occupied by Russia
The head of state released a video showing debris surrounding a large Soviet-era building. Parked cars could be seen all around, their roofs and windows partially destroyed. The governor of the Chernihiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, previously said that the city was likely hit by a ballistic missile. He called on the population on Telegram to stay in shelters for the time being.
Chernihiv is around 150 kilometers north of Kiev towards the border with Belarus, which is allied with Russia. Russian forces had marched through Chernihiv when they began their February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Since Moscow’s troops were pushed out of the area, northern Ukraine has been largely spared fierce fighting like that in the east and south of the country.
Zelenskyj for talks in Stockholm
According to Selenskyj, he is visiting Sweden. He announced on Telegram talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the royal family and other representatives. Among other things, it should be about bilateral cooperation in the armaments industry.
In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden, like neighboring Finland, had decided to join NATO. While Finland has now been accepted into the defense alliance, Sweden has yet to join because Turkey’s resistance only ended in July. Stockholm also abandoned its doctrine of not supplying arms to countries at war. Sweden has delivered thousands of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during a visit to Sweden.
Moscow reports drone attack
An attack is also reported from Russia. According to information from Moscow, a military airfield in the north-west of the country was attacked by a Ukrainian drone. The Russian Defense Ministry said the air defense tried to shoot down the unmanned missile over the terrain in the Novgorod region.
A fire then broke out on the airfield, damaging one machine. So nobody was injured. The information on the extent of the damage could not initially be verified independently. There was no official reaction from Kiev.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against neighboring Ukraine for around a year and a half. There are now repeated drone attacks on Russian territory away from the border area. Military objects or uninhabited buildings are often affected. The number of casualties and damage are disproportionate to the devastating consequences of the war in the attacked Ukraine.