The strike occurred while people were en route to a church to commemorate a religious holiday, according to the ministry’s statement. Among the wounded, 12 were children, and 10 were police officers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Russian military had targeted the central square of Chernihiv, encompassing a theatre and a university. Zelensky cautioned that casualties had resulted from the attack.
Situated approximately 150km north of Kyiv, Chernihiv boasts tree-lined boulevards and centuries-old churches.
“A Russian missile hit right in the centre of the city, in our Chernihiv,” stated Zelensky through Telegram. He further expressed that Russia had transformed an ordinary Saturday into a day marked by pain and loss, with fatalities and injuries being recorded.
Zelensky shared a video from the scene depicting debris around a large Soviet-era structure, surrounded by partially damaged parked cars, roofs in disarray, and shattered windows.
The governor of the Chernihiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, previously remarked that the city’s center had likely been struck by a ballistic missile, urging residents to take shelter.
A viral video emerged on social media, featuring a woman posing for a photo shortly before the theatre was hit.
Kyiv’s air force reported that the Ukrainian military had successfully downed 15 out of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Moscow during an overnight assault.
Russian forces had marched through Chernihiv during their invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, from various directions, including Belarus. However, they were subsequently repelled by Ukrainian forces.
Since the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from the region, northern Ukraine has experienced relatively less intense conflict compared to the ongoing fierce battles in the eastern and southern parts of the country.
