World

Several killed in Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Chernihiv

At least 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 on Saturday, said the head of the regional administration in Chernihiv, Viacheslav Chaus.

People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when the strike took place, the interior ministry said, adding 12 of the wounded were children and 10 were police officers.

“Today the enemy hit Chernihiv with rocket strike. The musical-dramatic theatre was damaged. The surrounding buildings were damaged. As of now, there are seven dead including one child, and more than 90 people asked for medical help. 25 people are in hospital,” Viacheslav said.

Chernihiv is a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145 km north of the capital Kyiv. The regional governor said a theater and the surrounding buildings had been destroyed in the strike.

Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities far from the front line with missiles and drones as part of the invasion it launched in February last year.