As many as seven lives were claimed by a powerful Russian missile attack that hit the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, leaving 129 others including children as the war on both sides continue to escalate on the civilian structures.
According to the Ukrainian interior ministry, there were fifteen children injured, adding that 25 people sought medical assistance in the hospital.
According to the acting mayor of the city, the theatre was hosting a gathering of drone manufacturers.
“I understand that their aim was a military event taking place in the building of the drama theatre and that it was their target,” Oleksandr Lomako told media, adding that “but it is clear that the Russians launching those missiles and those giving them orders in the middle of the day to the civilian city realised that the victims will be primarily civilians.”
“There is no other way to interpret it than a war crime against civilians, yet another Russian war crime,” he said.
Local residents said that the city center of Chernihiv is a popular area for people to stroll around, especially on the weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had turned an “ordinary Saturday into a day of pain and loss.”
The United Nations also condemned the Russian attack saying it was “extremely disturbed” by the attack.
“It is heinous to attack the main square of a large city, in the morning, while people are out walking, some going to the church to celebrate a religious day for many Ukrainians,” Denise Brown, the head of the UN in Ukraine, said in a statement.
“Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law,” she said. “It must stop.”
Three days of mourning have been announced in the city.
Separately, Russia claimed that a Ukrainian drone struck a military airfield in the Novgorod region, causing a fire that was extinguished.
It stated that there were no casualties however a plane was damaged.
Kyiv’s air force said the Ukrainian military had shot down 15 out of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Moscow in an overnight strike.
