Russian Strike On Ukraine City Kills 14

Chernigiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2024) A Russian strike on the historic city of Chernigiv in northern Ukraine killed 14 people and wounded dozens more on Wednesday, as Kyiv pleaded for allies to bolster its over-stretched air defence systems.

First responders searched for survivors in the rubble and carried away the wounded on stretchers as pools of blood formed on the ground near the scene of the attack, official images showed.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has urged allies to send more missiles to thwart Russian air attacks, said Ukraine lacked the weapons needed to intercept the three cruise missiles that struck Chernigiv.

Its mayor Oleksandr Lomako gave the latest death toll in a social media post and said 61 people had been injured, a figure that officials earlier said included several children.

"The search and rescue operation is underway," Lomako added, noting that 16 buildings had been damaged in the attack. Other officials said dozens of vehicles were also destroyed.

A 25-year-old policewoman on sick leave was among those killed after suffering a severe shrapnel injury, the interior minister announced separately.

AFP journalists at the scene saw an eight-storey hotel building gutted in parts by the strike and nearby apartments, a beauty salon and beer shop with their windows blown out.

The Chernigiv region, which borders Belarus to the north, was partially occupied at the beginning of the invasion but has been spared fighting on its territory for around two years since Russian forces retreated.