UN — In an action described as “heinous” by the United Nations, Russia launched a missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday, just hours after President Vladimir Putin met with Moscow’s senior army commanders. The strike killed seven people and injured more than a hundred. Denise Brown, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, called the incident “heinous,” saying that it occurred in the morning while people were out strolling and some were on their way to church to commemorate a sacred day for many Ukrainians.
She was referring to the fact that some people in Chernihiv were at morning church services for the Orthodox feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. I strongly disagree with the Russian government’s policy of repeatedly bombing Ukrainian cities. She went on to say that attacks on persons or civilian objects are illegal because they violate international humanitarian law.
As heavy battle continues in the east and south, the city of Chernihiv, located about 90 miles north of Kyiv towards Belarus, has been largely spared from major strikes since the first months of Russia’s invasion. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 via Belarus, they marched right through the city before being driven back by Kyiv’s defenders.
Putin had just returned from Rostov-on-Don, Russia’s operational base, where he met with top generals, and his Ukrainian rival, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in Sweden, meeting with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, when the attack occurred on Saturday. According to Oleksandr Lomako, the acting mayor of Chernihiv, who made the announcement via Telegram, “as of 3:25 pm (1225 GMT), 117 people were injured in the terrorist attack on the centre of Chernihiv, seven of them died.”
The military administration chief for the Chernihiv region, Viacheslav Chaus, confirmed via Telegram that a kid was among the fatalities. A theatre and a polytechnic university, according to Zelensky’s account of the damage. The Saturday he arrived in Sweden on was “an ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,” he recalled. Reporters from AFP spotted fire vehicles near the damaged Taras Shevchenko Drama Theatre and Music Academy.
People were running, screaming, and moaning; there was smoke in the air. Chernihiv barmaid Iryna, 24 years old, told AFP that she and her coworkers hid in a shelter after the explosions. “I’m still a little in shock, but everyone seems to be letting their guard down a bit because this hasn’t happened in a long time. But I think we should head down to the shelter now.
