Ukraine war: Russia’s deadliest air strike in weeks kills 17 in Chernihiv, as Kyiv seeks more defence support
- President Zelensky called on Kyiv’s allies to rush in air defence support after the city, with a population of 300,000, became the latest target of Russian strikes
- Ukraine has a shortage of ammunition, including air defence systems and missiles, with vital funding from the US blocked, and Russia taking advantage of the delays
Three Russian missiles on Wednesday slammed into the centre of Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine near the Russian border, killing at least 17 people, wounding dozens more and damaging civilian buildings, officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Kyiv’s allies to rush in air defence support after the city, which had a pre-war population of 300,000, became the latest target of an intensifying Russian air strike campaign.
“This would not have happened if Ukraine had received sufficient air defence equipment and if the world’s determination to counter Russian terror had been sufficient,” Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Videos obtained by Reuters showed flames and columns of black smoke rising over Chernihiv, which is about 150km (95 miles) from the capital Kyiv and about 80km (50 miles) from the Russian border.
Three explosions ripped through a busy central area of the city just after 9am local time, destroying a hotel, officials said.
The strike also damaged several multi-storey residential buildings, a hospital, an education facility and dozens of private cars, officials said.
“Unfortunately, Russia continues to engage in terrorist activity against civilians and civilian infrastructure, as confirmed by this strike on Chernihiv once again,” acting mayor Oleksandr Lomako said on national television.
I haven’t come to my senses fully yet, and I don’t understand everything that happened. The main thing for me is that my child in school was in a basement [shelter]