Putin’s forces launch missile strike on Chernihiv, killing 7 and injuring 90

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sport Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Close Ukraine has said that a Russian missile strike in the northern city of Chernihiv has killed seven people and injured 90 others. Children and police officers were among the dead following the strike, which hit a central square in the history city, about 92 miles northeast of the capital, Kyiv , as locals walked to church to celebrate a religious holiday. Mr Zelensky confirmed the news while on a visit to Sweden on Saturday.  ‘An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,’ he wrote on the Telegram messaging service. Earlier, Kyiv said it shot down 15 Russian drones overnight as the Kremlin targeted sites across Ukraine. Ukraine’s Air Force said Vladimir Putin ‘s troops used Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack targets in the country’s central, northern and western regions. Seventeen drones were launched in total, Ukraine said, and it was not immediately clear what happened to the other two. 1692448361 Seven people including a 6-year-old child were killed and 90 wounded when a Russian missile struck a central square in the historic northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry said on Saturday. People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when the strike took place, the ministry said, adding 12 of the wounded were children and 10 were police officers. “A Russian missile hit right in the centre of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theatre,” President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was on a working visit to Sweden, posted on Telegram. “An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,” he added. Sonal Hayat 19 August 2023 13:32 1692451842 Footage purports to show the moment a drone attack struck Moscow , Hayden Vernon reports. Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching an attack on a building in Moscow’s business district. Unverified footage on social media appeared to show an explosion next to recognisable Moscow skyscrapers. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the city’s Expo Center. Ukraine did not confirm the attack, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow. Footage purports to show the moment a drone attack struck Moscow. Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching an attack on a building in Moscow’s business district. Unverified footage on social media appeared to show an explosion next to recognisable Moscow skyscrapers. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the city’s Expo Center. Ukraine did not confirm the attack, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow. Matt Mathers 19 August 2023 14:30 1692450042 The newfound presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus , exiled from Russia after their mutinous march on Moscow, has fuelled fresh anxieties in Ukraine and on Nato ‘s eastern flank. Belarus’s neighbours have moved to a heightened state of alert since dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared to broker a last-minute deal with the Kremlin to defuse the shortlived mutiny on 23 June and host Wagner troops on Belarusian soil. Any attempt to breach Ukraine’s northern border would make no logistical sense, experts tell The Independent How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus? Andy Gregory reports: Matt Mathers 19 August 2023 14:00 1692447000 Naval forces in Russia and China have completed joint patrol exercises in the Pacific Ocean, it was reported on Saturday. The three-week-long drills comprised more than 50 training and combat exercises, citing Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Interfax news agency said. The Russian vessels are now crossing the East China Sea en route to China’s port of Qingdao, it added. Natalie Crockett 19 August 2023 13:10 1692444954 Russian warplane damaged in Ukrainian drone attack on airfield, Moscow says A Ukrainian drone strike on a military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, caused a fire damaging a warplane, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday. Nobody was hurt and the blaze fire was quickly extinguished at the airfield, which lies in a region northwest of Moscow, it said. ‘As a result of the terrorist attack on the territory of the airfield, a fire broke out in the parking lot of aircraft, which was quickly eliminated by firefighters. One aircraft was damaged,’ the ministry said in a statement. Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased in recent months. One smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all civilian airports of the Russian capital. Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory or Crimea, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them. Natalie Crockett 19 August 2023 12:35 1692442387 Five people have died and 37 wounded, including 11 children, have been injured in a Russian missile strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry said on Saturday. People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when a central square in the city was hit, the ministry said. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was on a working visit to Sweden, said in a message posted on Telegram: ‘A Russian missile hit right in the centre of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theatre.’ ‘An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,’ he added. A video accompanying Zelensky’s post showed debris scattered across a square in front of the regional drama theatre, where parked cars were heavily damaged. Natalie Crockett 19 August 2023 11:53 1692439254 The newfound presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus , exiled from Russia after their mutinous march on Moscow, has fuelled fresh anxieties in Ukraine and on Nato ‘s eastern flank. Belarus’s neighbours have moved to a heightened state of alert since dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared to broker a last-minute deal with the Kremlin to defuse the shortlived mutiny on 23 June and host Wagner troops on Belarusian soil. During a recent meeting at the strategically important Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated land corridor near their countries’ borders with Belarus and Russia’s enclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda warned that north of 4,000 mercenaries were believed to be in Belarus, while Poland ‘s premier Mateusz Morawiecki branded them ‘extremely dangerous’. Read more from Andy Gregory here: Any attempt to breach Ukraine’s northern border would make no logistical sense, experts tell The Independent Natalie Crockett 19 August 2023 11:00 1692438893 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that people had been killed and wounded after a Russian missile struck a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. “A Russian missile hit right in the center of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theater,” he posted on Telegram along with footage of the aftermath. “An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss. There are dead, there are wounded.” Zelensky did not specify the number of casualties. File photo: Volodymyr Zelensky Matt Mathers 19 August 2023 10:54 1692436892 Separate Russian courts on Friday ordered the liquidation of a human rights organization that preserved the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and the arrest of a prominent election monitor, in the latest moves in a widespread crackdown on dissent. Sakharov, who died in 1989, was a key figure in developing the Soviet Union’s hydrogen bomb program but later become renowned for his activism in promoting human rights and freedom of conscience. He was awarded the Nobel prize in 1975 but was not allowed to travel to Norway to receive it. In 1980 he was sent into internal exile, which lasted six years. Russian courts have ordered the liquidation of a human rights organization that preserved the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and have ordered the detention of a prominent election monitor Matt Mathers 19 August 2023 10:21 1692434863 Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Sweden today and meet with the country’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson. The Ukraine president will also meet with Sweden’s royal family and other officials to thank them for supporting his country during Russia’s invasion. ‘Our primary task is the strengthening of Ukrainian warriors on the ground and in the sky, the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular in the defence industry, Ukraine’s European integration and common security in the Euro-Atlantic space,’ he wrote in a Telegram post announcing his arrival. File photo: Volodymyr Zelensky Matt Mathers 19 August 2023 09:47 Ukraine Russia Kyiv Vladimir Putin Moscow Kremlin Sergey Lavrov Nato US Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in