Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to retaliate after a Russian missile strike on northern Ukraine’s Chernihiv killed seven individuals and wounded 148, an assault
The regional governor confirmed the demise toll Sunday, in what the United Nations has denounced as a “heinous” assault.
The strike got here through the Orthodox vacation of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Saturday, as some attended morning church companies within the metropolis.
In an early-morning replace Sunday, Vyacheslav Chaus, governor of Chernihiv area, mentioned there have been “seven people dead, 148 people received injuries.”
“41 people remain in hospitals. 15 people underwent surgeries,” he mentioned in a publish on Telegram, including that “more than 500 homes suffered damage.”
The strike hit the middle of the town, which is 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Kyiv towards Belarus, and which had largely been spared from main assaults for the reason that first months of Russia’s invasion as fierce combating rages within the east and south.
The Russian military marched by means of the town when it invaded Ukraine by means of Belarus in February 2022, earlier than being repelled by Kyiv’s forces.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier mentioned the useless included “a girl, her name was Sofia, she was 6 years old”, and that there have been 15 youngsters among the many wounded.
“Our soldiers will respond to Russia for this terrorist attack – a tangible answer,” he vowed.
From a hospital mattress, her legs nonetheless lined in blood, Diana Kazakova mentioned she had been inside a store when the strike occurred simply minutes after sirens sounded.
When she got here to, she mentioned, “people were crying, shouting” on the street exterior. “It was scary.”
Iryna, a 24-year-old bartender in Chernihiv, advised Agence France-Presse (AFP): “There was smoke, screams, people were running, crying, moaning. We ran to the shelter when everything happened and sat there.”
UN condemnation
Denise Brown, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, mentioned it was “heinous to attack the main square of a large city, in the morning, while people are out walking, some going to church to celebrate a religious day for many Ukrainians”.
“I condemn this repeated pattern of Russian strikes on populated areas of Ukraine … Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law,” she added.
Audrey Azoulay, director basic of the U.N.’s cultural group UNESCO, mentioned she was “appalled” by the assault, in a publish on social media.
Ukraine’s tradition ministry mentioned the middle of Chernihiv, a metropolis with a thousand-year historical past, is a candidate for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Zelenskyy was in Sweden for talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the place he finalized “the production of CV90 (armored vehicles) in our country.”
“Everything powerful that serves us now, we must localize and produce. We will do so.”
They additionally mentioned Ukrainian pilots collaborating in check trials of Swedish Gripen fighter jets, he mentioned in his night handle.
Putin hosts army prime brass
The Kremlin mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin had traveled to the southern metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, Moscow’s hub for its operations in Ukraine, to satisfy his prime generals in a uncommon journey near fight zones.
Moscow gave no particulars of when the assembly occurred, however footage launched by state media indicated it was at night time.
Putin listened to briefings by the Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov “and other senior officers of the group,” the Kremlin mentioned.
A video revealed by the RIA Novosti news company confirmed Putin, carrying a go well with, stepping out of a jeep at the hours of darkness and being greeted with a handshake by Gerasimov, in army apparel.
Rostov-on-Don was additionally the scene of a dramatic armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries in June, which noticed them briefly take over the military HQ in Rostov, earlier than halting their riot.
Gerasimov, who Wagner needed to unseat, has not often been seen in public since.
Drone assaults
Kyiv mentioned it had shot down greater than a dozen Russian drones in an in a single day assault.
A Ukrainian drone assault hit a prepare station within the western Russian metropolis of Kursk, injuring 5 individuals, the regional governor mentioned early Sunday, whereas in Moscow the mayor mentioned “an attempt was made to fly a drone to Moscow on the southern direction.”
“It was thwarted by the air defense forces,” he added.
State-run news company TASS reported that the capital’s Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports have been briefly closed.
Vnukovo has confronted occasional temporary late-night closures over the previous few months, when there have been drone assaults close by.
Both sides have reported common drone incursions as Ukraine presses a counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-held territory.
Russia’s military additionally mentioned it had “eliminated” 150 Ukrainian troops that attempted to cross the Dnipro River into Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine, a day after admitting sabotage teams have been working within the space.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
