Ukraine war: Footage appears to show moment drone attack hits building in central Moscow
Ukraine has said that a Russian missile strike in the northern city of Chernihiv has killed seven people and injured 90 others.
Children and police officers were among the dead following the strike, which hit a central square in the history city, about 92 miles northeast of the capital, Kyiv, as locals walked to church to celebrate a religious holiday.
Mr Zelensky confirmed the news while on a visit to Sweden on Saturday. “An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging service.
Earlier, Kyiv said it shot down 15 Russian drones overnight as the Kremlin targeted sites across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Vladimir Putin’s troops used Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack targets in the country’s central, northern and western regions.
Seventeen drones were launched in total, Ukraine said, and it was not immediately clear what happened to the other two.
Seven killed in Chernihiv missile strike
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, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when the strike took place, the ministry said, adding 12 of the wounded were children and 10 were police officers.
“A Russian missile hit right in the centre 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.
(Reuters)
Sonal Hayat19 August 2023 13:32
Russian attack on city main square ‘heinous’ says UN official
Denise Brown, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said she was “extremely disturbed” by Russia’s rocket attack in Chernihiv in which seven people were killed and more than 100 others were injured.
Mrs Brown said: “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.
“I condemn this repeated pattern of Russian strikes on populated areas of Ukraine, causing deaths, massive destruction and soaring humanitarian needs.”
The scene of a missile hit at the Drama Theatre in central Chernihiv
(EPA)
Matt Drake19 August 2023 16:35
Zelensky asks for Sweden for Gripen jets on first visit since Russian invasion
Ukraine has begun discussing with Sweden the possibility of receiving Gripen jets to boost its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday after meeting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Zelensky’s visit is his first to Sweden since Russia’s invasion in February 2022 and the talks about obtaining Gripen jets, which he cast as preliminary, follow approval from the United States for Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighters to Ukraine.
“Today we discussed in detail the future steps regarding the possibility of opening the subject of receiving Swedish Gripens,” Zelensky said at a joint news briefing with Kristersson, adding that the topic would be central to his meetings with other Swedish officials.
Zelenksy meets Ulf Kristersson
(Getty)
Matt Mathers19 August 2023 15:38
ICYMI: Footage appears to show moment drone attack hits building in central Moscow
Footage purports to show the moment a drone attack struck Moscow, Hayden Vernon reports.
Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching an attack on a building in Moscow’s business district.
Unverified footage on social media appeared to show an explosion next to recognisable Moscow skyscrapers.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the city’s Expo Center.
Ukraine did not confirm the attack, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow.
Footage appears to show moment drone attack hits building in central Moscow
Footage purports to show the moment a drone attack struck Moscow. Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching an attack on a building in Moscow’s business district. Unverified footage on social media appeared to show an explosion next to recognisable Moscow skyscrapers. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the city’s Expo Center. Ukraine did not confirm the attack, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow.
Matt Mathers19 August 2023 14:30
‘Wagner is victim of it’s own brand name’: How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus?
The newfound presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, exiled from Russia after their mutinous march on Moscow, has fuelled fresh anxieties in Ukraine and on Nato’s eastern flank.
Belarus’s neighbours have moved to a heightened state of alert since dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared to broker a last-minute deal with the Kremlin to defuse the shortlived mutiny on 23 June and host Wagner troops on Belarusian soil.
How much of a threat does mercenary group pose in Belarus? Andy Gregory reports:
Matt Mathers19 August 2023 14:00
Navies of Russia and China complete joint training exercises
Naval forces in Russia and China have completed joint patrol exercises in the Pacific Ocean, it was reported on Saturday.
The three-week-long drills comprised more than 50 training and combat exercises, citing Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Interfax news agency said.
The Russian vessels are now crossing the East China Sea en route to China’s port of Qingdao, it added.
Natalie Crockett19 August 2023 13:10
Russian warplane damaged in Ukrainian drone attack on airfield, Moscow says
A Ukrainian drone strike on a military airfield in Russia’s Novgorod region, caused a fire damaging a warplane, Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
Nobody was hurt and the blaze fire was quickly extinguished at the airfield, which lies in a region northwest of Moscow, it said.
“As a result of the terrorist attack on the territory of the airfield, a fire broke out in the parking lot of aircraft, which was quickly eliminated by firefighters. One aircraft was damaged,” the ministry said in a statement.
Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased in recent months. One smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all civilian airports of the Russian capital.
Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory or Crimea, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them.
Natalie Crockett19 August 2023 12:35
Five dead and dozens injured in Russian drone strike on Chernihiv
Five people have died and 37 wounded, including 11 children, have been injured in a Russian missile strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when a central square in the city was hit, the ministry said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was on a working visit to Sweden, said in a message posted on Telegram: “A Russian missile hit right in the centre of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theatre.”
“An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss,” he added.
A video accompanying Zelensky’s post showed debris scattered across a square in front of the regional drama theatre, where parked cars were heavily damaged.
(REUTERS)
Natalie Crockett19 August 2023 11:53
‘Wagner is victim of it’s own brand name’
The newfound presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, exiled from Russia after their mutinous march on Moscow, has fuelled fresh anxieties in Ukraine and on Nato’s eastern flank.
Belarus’s neighbours have moved to a heightened state of alert since dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared to broker a last-minute deal with the Kremlin to defuse the shortlived mutiny on 23 June and host Wagner troops on Belarusian soil.
During a recent meeting at the strategically important Suwalki Gap, a sparsely populated land corridor near their countries’ borders with Belarus and Russia’s enclave of Kaliningrad, Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nauseda warned that north of 4,000 mercenaries were believed to be in Belarus, while Poland’s premier Mateusz Morawiecki branded them “extremely dangerous”.
Read more from Andy Gregory here:
Natalie Crockett19 August 2023 11:00
Fatalities reported after Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s Chernihiv – Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that people had been killed and wounded after a Russian missile struck a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.
“A Russian missile hit right in the center of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theater,” he posted on Telegram along with footage of the aftermath.
“An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss. There are dead, there are wounded.” Zelensky did not specify the number of casualties.
File photo: Volodymyr Zelensky
(EPA)
Matt Mathers19 August 2023 10:54
