UPDATED: 5 killed, 37 injured as Russian forces strike center of Chernihiv with missile
Five civilians were killed and 37 injured as Russian forces targeted the city center of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on the morning of Aug. 19, according to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.
Eleven children were injured in the attack.
Chernihiv Oblast Governor Viacheslav Chaus reported the attack at 11:41 a.m. local time, saying that a ballistic missile was likely used.
"Here's what it means to be neighbors with a terrorist state, here's what we are uniting the entire world against," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote. "A regular Saturday turned into a day of pain and loss caused by Russia."
Chernihiv's center square, polytechnic institute, and theater were impacted by the missile strike, according to Zelensky.
There have been unconfirmed reports in Ukrainian media that the missile targeted the site where Ukrainian drone producers were holding an exhibition. The Kyiv Independent confirmed that an exhibition of drone producers was planned for Aug. 19 in Chernihiv, but the location was kept in secret. The registered visitors were going to receive the address hours before the event.
The attack took place on one of the biggest Eastern Orthodox holidays – the Feast of Transfiguration, known in Ukraine as the Apple Feast of the Savior or Apple Spas.
According to the reports from authorities, some of the people injured in the attack could be going to the nearby church on the occasion of the holiday. One of the photos from the scene shows a body with a traditional church basket next to it.
Asami Terajima
