A Russian missile attack killed 14 people in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s interior minister said more than 60 people were injured in the attack, which hit an eight-story building in a densely populated area.
Three missiles struck near the center of the city, officials said.
The attack came hours after reports of a Ukrainian strike on a Russian military airfield in occupied Crimea.
Details have not yet been confirmed, although local social media has shared video of an apparent fire at the Djankoy airfield in northern Crimea.
In Chernihiv, acting mayor Oleksandr Lomako said a building was hit directly by one of the Russian missiles and several floors were damaged. The presidential office in kyiv said four other high-rise buildings, a hospital, dozens of cars and a higher education institution were all damaged in the attack.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said two children were among the victims and that police were searching the rubble for other victims.
Video from the scene showed people getting off a trolleybus and diving for cover in the city. Authorities have called on the public to come forward to donate blood.
Emergency services continue to search the rubble for other victims.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian strike would not have happened “if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment,” and he reiterated his call for Western allies to provide support.
Chernihiv is just 100 kilometers from the Russian border.
Parts of the Chernihiv region, not far from the city, were occupied for several weeks at the start of the 2022 invasion, while Russia attempted to seize Kiev to the south.
The city was besieged for more than a month. It was about 70% destroyed and hundreds of civilians were killed, the mayor said.
A theater in the city was also hit in a missile attack in August 2023 that killed seven people.
In an interview with US television on Monday, the Ukrainian leader also blamed the decline of Ukraine’s air defenses on Russia’s ability to destroy a key thermal power plant supplying kyiv and other regions last week.
Mr Zelensky said 11 missiles were fired at the Trypillya factory and Ukrainian forces were only able to shoot down seven. “Four destroyed Trypillya. Why? Because we didn’t have any missiles. We missed all the missiles,” he told PBS.
kyiv has been waiting for months for a $60 billion (£48 billion) US aid package to pass Congress, but it has been delayed by Republican objections.
Zelensky said the world showed unity in helping non-NATO country Israel when it was attacked by Iranian missiles, and he called for the same political will to be shown towards Ukraine.
News Source : www.bbc.com
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