In a tragic incident, a Russian missile strike on the central square of the historic city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine has resulted in the death of seven individuals, including a six-year-old child. An additional 129 people were wounded in the attack, which took place while people were on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday, according to the interior ministry.
The search and rescue operation identified that among the wounded, 15 were children and 15 were police officers, as stated by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko in a Telegram post.
Expressing his grief, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was on a working visit to Sweden, wrote on Telegram, “A Russian missile hit right in the center of our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theater. An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss.”
A video accompanying Zelenskiy’s post showed debris scattered across the square in front of the regional drama theater, with heavily damaged parked cars and a body seen inside one of the vehicles.
According to Ukrainian media reports, a public event featuring drone manufacturers was taking place inside the theater at the time of the attack. Both Russia and Ukraine have extensively used drones during the 18-month-long invasion by Russia.
Interior Minister Klymenko confirmed that an unspecified event had been taking place in the building and that Ukraine’s domestic security service was investigating the matter.
Situated about 145 kilometers north of the capital Kyiv, Chernihiv is a picturesque city known for its leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches.
The missile strike caused severe damage to the neoclassical theater, tearing off its roof and shattering doors and windows of neighboring apartment buildings and storefronts. The streets were marked by blood trails and scattered first-aid supplies used to treat the wounded.
Russia has been targeting Ukrainian cities far from the frontline using missiles and drones as part of its full-scale invasion launched in February last year.
In retaliation, Ukraine’s air force announced that it had successfully shot down 15 out of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia in an overnight strike.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that it had destroyed a Ukrainian drone in the Belgorod region, jammed another near Moscow, and that a third drone had struck a military airfield in the Novgorod region, causing damage to a warplane.