Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy condemns deadly Chernihiv attack

The UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine has condemned a Russian missile attack on Chernihiv's city center that killed at least seven and wounded over 100 as "heinous."

The attack hit a drama theatre in Chernihiv's central square early on Saturday. 

"It is heinous to attack the main square of a large city, in the morning, while people are out walking, some going to church to celebrate a religious day for many Ukrainians," Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said in an online statement.

She was referring to the Orthodox holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord which saw some in Chernihiv attending church services in the morning. 

"I condemn this repeated pattern of Russian strikes on populated areas of Ukraine, causing deaths, massive destruction and soaring humanitarian needs."  

"Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law," she added.

Russia's Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian drone targeted a military airfield in the Novgorod region, sparking a fire and damaging a warplane. 

It said the fire broke out after the drone was shot down "by small arms." 

No injuries have been reported, and the fire was swiftly put out by emergency responders.

Novgorod is located far northwest of Moscow, and a considerable distance from the Ukrainian border. 

The ministry later reported that air defense forces had jammed an aircraft-type drone on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, forcing it to crash near the settlement of Putilkovo.

It also reported a thwarted attack by an aircraft-type drone in the Belgorod region on Saturday, which
now sees such incidents on an almost daily basis.

It caused no casualties or damage, the ministry added.

Such drone strikes deep within Russian territory have recently been on the rise.

Ukraine's interior ministry said seven people were killed and more than a hundred injured in a missile strike on the northern city of Chernihiv.

People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when the strike took place, the ministry added.

A 6-year-old girl was among the dead, while the wounded included 12 children, officials said.

Speaking during a trip to Sweden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Russia for the attack. 

"This is what a neighborhood with a terrorist state is, this is what we unite the whole world against. A Russian missile hit right in the center of the city, in our Chernihiv," Zelenskyy said on Telegram. 

He posted footage of the attack's aftermath on the central square, which included damage to a theatre and a university.

"An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss. There are casualties," Zelenskyy wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

Since the Russian forces were pushed back from the area last year, northern Ukraine has largely been spared from the intense fighting in the south and east.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on a working visit in Sweden on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

They will discuss their "partnership, defense cooperation, EU integration, and common Euro-Atlantic security," the Ukraine leader said on social media.

"Our primary task is the strengthening of Ukrainian warriors on the ground and in the sky, the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular in the defense industry, Ukraine's European integration and common security in the Euro-Atlantic space," he added.

After talks with Kristersson, Zelenskyy said the pair discussed the possibility of receiving Gripen fighter jets from Sweden.

Earlier this week, Sweden announced plans for a new military support package to Ukraine worth 3.4 billion crowns ($313.5 million, €288 million)

Defense Minister Pal Jonson said it would consist of ammunition and spare parts to previously delivered weapon systems.

Sweden is also part of the International Fund for Ukraine — a group of European countries that this week said it would provide additional air defense equipment to Ukraine. 

Russia's defense ministry said its forces shot down a missile launched by Ukraine over the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula overnight.

The ministry said there were no casualties and no damage in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The UK Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian forces have continued their advance along the course of the Mokri Yaly river.

They managed to secure the village of Urozhaine "in the face of stiff Russian resistance."

Despite this, "most of the front line has remained static,"  the ministry said in their latest intelligence briefing.

UK intelligence noted that Russian forces have continued probing attacks in the Kupiansk area in the north.  

"Both sides confront a similar challenge: attempting to defeat well-entrenched forces while having limited uncommitted forces to open new assaults," the intelligence update stated.

President Vladimir Putin met with his military chiefs, including the commander of Russia's operation in Ukraine.

According to the Kremlin, Putin held the meeting at the "special military operation" headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city just some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Ukraine's border and was the first stop in a short-lived mutiny carried out by Wagner Group mercenaries in June.

He listened to reports from Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Army in charge of Moscow's operations in Ukraine.

"The head of the state heard reports from Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and a number of military commanders," the Kremlin said.

It comes as Ukraine said it liberated the small village of Urozhaine in the Donetsk region, its first since July.

The Kremlin did not provide any additional details of Putin's meeting and was unclear when it took place.

Footage released by the Russian RIA state news agency showed Gerasimov greeting Putin in what appeared to be night-time and leading him into a building after a brief handshake.

Gerasimov, who had rarely been seen in public in recent months, was one of the targets of the Wagner Group coup and a key rival to the group's leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Ukraine says it shot down 15 Iranian-made Shahed drones during an overnight Russian attack.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia was attempting to strike the country's northern, central and western regions.

Russian forces "attacked from the north with ‘Shahed-136/131’ attack UAVs. A total of 17 attack drones were launched from the Kursk region," the Ukrainian force said on Telegram.

It was unclear what happened to the two remaining drones.

Both sides of the war have reported regular drone incursions by air and sea recently.

On Friday, Russia said its forces had destroyed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and its Black Sea Fleet.

US officials told the New York Times that the total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began 18 months ago is nearing 500,000. 

It marks a significant rise in the death toll this year following intense fighting in the country's east.

The unnamed officials claimed that Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, with as many as 120,000 killed in action.

They added that Ukrainian deaths were nearly 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.

The newspaper reported the casualty count had picked up after Ukraine launched its counteroffensive earlier this year.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said only the General Staff could disclose such figures.

"We have adopted a model that only the General Staff has the right to voice the figures on the wounded, the disabled, people who lost limbs, and the missing, and, of course, the number of people who died in this war," he said in a broadcast on the Youtube channel of journalist Yulia Latynina on Friday.

Russia made no immediate comment on the report.

lo/ab (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)