(Update the number of victims and add other information)
Kiev, Aug 19 (EFE).- The number of fatalities from the attack with a Russian Iskander missile on the center of the Ukrainian city of Chernigov rose to seven, including a six-year-old girl, while more than thirty people were injured , mostly citizens returning from a religious service.
The impact of the missile occurred in the heart of that city, between its Drama Theater and the University, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported, according to the Ukrinform portal.
It was around noon when the center of that northern Ukrainian city was especially crowded for being a holiday, so those affected were citizens who were walking or traveling in their car or on public transport.
Among the injured there are several children, added the minister, who also stressed that those who were in the theater went down to the shelter located inside the building.
Up to 50 more citizens who presented minor injuries and who did not require attention from the emergency services would be added to the thirty injured who were admitted to hospitals, the mayor’s office said.
An event on military technologies was being held in the center of Chernigov this Saturday, sources from the mayor’s office also confirmed.
The organizers ensured that the corresponding authorization was available, that it was an event for professionals after registering and verifying their identity, and that it was not a “drones exhibition”, contrary to certain information in this sense disseminated in social networks.
Chernihiv, some 140 kilometers north of Kiev, has been a city under constant siege by Russian troops since the start of the invasion, although the Ukrainian army managed to contain their attacks and prevent it from falling under enemy control.
The attack this Saturday hit the heart of the city and caused damage to the aforementioned theater, as well as the University, according to the country’s president, Volodímir Zelenski, who released images shortly after the impact through his account on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“This is what it means to live close to a terrorist state,” the Ukrainian leader wrote.
Zelensky released this message shortly after announcing, also by this means, his arrival in Stockholm, for a working visit focused on Swedish military support and with meetings with the Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, and with King Carl Gustaf, as points priority.
His wife Olena, who accompanies him on that work visit, also expressed her pain over the attack through X, where she stressed that what was going to be a holiday became “a day of pain and human loss.” EFE
int-gc/hma
(Photo)
