Seven killed, 117 wounded in Russian missile strike on Ukrainian city of Chernihiv

At least seven people were killed and 117 wounded when a Russian missile struck a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv Saturday. 

The dead include a 6-year-old girl, while 12 children were among the wounded, acting mayor Oleksandr Lomanko said.

“A Russian missile hit right in the center 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.

Video shared on social media showed the moment of impact, a firey blast that slammed into the Chernihiv Drama Theater. 

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Kyiv’s air force also said early Saturday that the military shot down 15 of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones Russia launched in an overnight strike.

At the time of the attack, Zelensky was in Stockholm, where said he discussed the possibility of receiving Gripen jets to bolster Ukraine’s air defense with the pending NATO member.

It was Zelensky’s first trip to Sweden since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and he framed the sit-down as a preliminary meeting after the United States gave approval for Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. 

Sweden’s government said it would allow Ukrainian pilots to test the Saab-made Gripen jets in June, although it also said it needed all its military planes for national defense. 

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Zelensky on Saturday said Ukrainian pilots had already begun training on the jets. 

Sweden has been supplying Ukraine with military aid that includes tanks, anti-aircraft systems, and armored vehicles.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said Tuesday that the government also plans to send a $315.5 million aid package — mainly consisting of ammunition and spare parts for weapons systems —  to Ukraine as well. 

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited with his top military brass amid claims by Ukraine that it is making gains in its counteroffensive along the southeastern front of the war. 

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“Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the headquarters of the special military operation group in Rostov-on-Don,” the Kremlin said in a statement. 

Putin also met with Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the army and head of Moscow’s operations in Ukraine, according to the Kremlin, which did not provide any additional details about the meeting. 

The series of meetings comes after Ukraine said it liberated the village of Urozhaine on Thursday while it pushes toward the Sea of Azov and the Russian land bridge to Crimea — a vital supply route for Moscow.

This week, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service confirmed responsibility for an attack on the bridge last month, which the agency carried out with sea drones. 

Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the agency, told CNN the drone, called “Sea Baby,” was filled with 1,800-pound warheads, and was used to damage the bridge in the July 17 attack. 

Russia has since vowed retaliation after the attack.