Ukraine’s Zelensky visits Sweden with his wife, condemns latest deadly Russian missile strike
- The president was in Stockholm – along with his wife Olena Zelenska – where he signed an agreement with the prime minister for production of a Swedish tank
- He condemned the recent Russian attack on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine that killed at least 7, including a child, and injured more than 100
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Sweden together with his wife Olena Zelenska on Saturday.
At a press conference with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the Ukrainian president thanked the Scandinavian country for its support and condemned the most recent deadly Russian missile attack, this one on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine that caused several deaths and many injuries.
According to Kristersson, the two signed a memorandum of understanding on joint production, training and maintenance of the Combat Vehicle 90, a Swedish tank.
“Ukraine is fighting for us, for all European democracies,” Kristersson said. He did not address Zelensky’s demand for the delivery of the Swedish Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft.
However, Denmark and the Netherlands had already declared their willingness to supply the F-16 fighter jet, which originated in the United States.
Within Nato, a coalition led by the two countries formed in the summer to train Ukrainian pilots to use the F-16. Belgium and Norway are also considered possible suppliers of the US jets.
Zelensky announced that as early as Sunday he would hold “negotiations with other countries that support [Ukraine] to deliver the equipment necessary for [Ukraine] to win this war.”
Whether Zelensky planned to visit other Nordic countries was not officially confirmed at first. According to the Swedish news agency TT, however, Denmark was preparing for a visit.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously announced that she would visit the Skrydstrup airbase on Sunday at 3pm together with Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. The Danish F-16s are stationed there.
Besides Kristersson, Zelensky also plans to meet King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia as well as members of parliament, he wrote on Saturday on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The topics to be discussed include military cooperation and Ukraine’s prospects for joining the European Union, he added.
“[My wife] and I thank all Swedes who support Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for almost 18 months now. Sweden, for its part, has decided to join Nato in the face of Russia’s act of aggression.
Seven people including a 6-year-old child were killed and at least 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.
A short video accompanying Zelensky’s post showed debris scattered across a square in front of the regional drama theatre, where parked cars were heavily damaged. The video also briefly showed a body slumped inside a car.
Ukrainian media reported that a public event featuring drone manufacturers had been taking place inside the theatre at the time of the attack. Both sides in Russia’s 18-month-old invasion have widely used drones on the battlefield.
In comments to reporters, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed only that an unspecified event had been taking place in the building and that Ukraine’s domestic security service was investigating the matter.
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Drones allegedly from Ukraine hit high-rise buildings in Moscow central districts
Chernihiv is a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145km north of the capital Kyiv.
The roof of the neoclassical theatre was torn off by the strike, which also blew out doors and windows in neighbouring apartment buildings and store fronts.
The streets were stained with blood trails and strewn with scraps from first aid supplies that had been used to treat the wounded.
Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities far from the frontline with missiles and drones as part of the full-scale invasion it launched in February last year.
Kyiv’s air force said early on Saturday the Ukrainian military had shot down 15 out of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Moscow in an overnight strike.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had destroyed a Ukrainian drone in the Belgorod region and jammed another near Moscow. A third struck a military airfield in the Novgorod region, damaging a warplane, it also said.
