Ukraine-Russia war latest: Deadly strike on city near Kyiv - as officials call for blood donations (2024)

The death toll from the Russian missile attack on Chernihiv has risen to 13.

As Russia pounds Ukrainian cities starved forair defence, the country's top officials intensified pleas forinternational support, saying the devastation could have beenavoided.

Interior minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack killed atleast 13 people and injured more than 60.

The strike also damaged four multistorey buildings, ahospital, an educational facility and dozens of private cars, headded in a statement on Telegram.

Russia carried out the attack with three Iskander cruisemissiles, according to regional governorVyacheslav Chaus.

Rescue workers are still on the scene.

Airports in the cities of Kazan and Nizhnekamsk, located east of Moscow in Tatarstan, have lifted temporary restrictions on flights, which had beenintroduced earlier for security reasons, Russia's aviationwatchdog has said.

Russian state media said the airports had stopped flights taking off or landing earlier today over fears of drone attacks.

They have now resumed normal operations, according to the authorities.

A Ukrainian drone was shot down over Tatarstan, at 11:20 a.m. local time, the Defence Ministry said in a statement reported by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Unconfirmed reports also said that a Ukrainian drone was shot down near a factory in Naberezhnye Chelny.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the deadly strike in Chernihiv wouldn't have happened "if Ukraine had received a sufficient number of air defence systems".

Taking to X, the Ukrainian president said the death toll had risen to 10, adding: "Terrorists can only destroy lives if they first intimidate those who can stop terror and save lives.

"Determination matters. Support matters.

"The Ukrainian determination is sufficient. There must be equally sufficient determination from our partners and, as a result, sufficient support."

These pictures show locals in Kyiv sheltering in metro stations during a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital.

Looking resigned and used to such instances after more than two years of war, the city's residents calmly scroll through their phones in groups as they wait for the danger to pass.

Earlier, we brought you news of a deadly Russian missile attack on the city of Chernihiv.

Now, local officials have said the death toll has risen to at least nine.

The city's acting mayor, Oleksandr Lomako, said three explosions rocked the city just after 9:00am local time, hitting a multistorey building.

"Unfortunately, Russia continues to engage in terrorist activity against the civilians and civilian infrastructure as confirmed by this strike on Chernihiv once again," Mr Lomako told Ukrainian TV.

He said several buildings, social infrastructure and many private cars were damaged.

The head of Chernihiv regional hospital said at least 18 people wounded in the attack were being treated there.

More injured civilians had been taken to other hospitals, he said, and urged locals to donate blood.

Telegram will likelycross one billion active monthly users within a year, according to the app's Russian-born founder.

PavelDurov said yesterday that the messaging service was spreading like a "forest fire".

Speaking on journalist Tucker Carlson's show broadcast on X, he said: "We'll probably cross one billion monthly active users within a year now."

Mr Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5bn, said some governments had sought to pressure him but the app, which has now 900 million active users, should remain a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics".

For context, WhatsApp has more than two billion monthly active users.

He founded Telegram in 2014 after he refused to comply with Russian government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.

It is particularly influential in former Soviet Union republics and, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has become a major source of unfiltered content from both sides about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict.

The app ranked as one of the major social media platforms, after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.

Croatians are heading to the polls after an election campaign in which battle lines were drawn on whether the country should lean more towards NATO or Moscow.

Today's vote pits the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by prime minister Andrej Plenkovic, against an alliance of centrist and left-wing parties informally led by populist president Zoran Milanovic and his Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The election comes as the country struggles with the highest inflation in the eurozone, a labour shortage, illegal migration and allegations of widespread corruption.

At stake in the race for the 151-seat parliament is not just the nation's future domestic policies, but also whether Croatia leans east or west in its international outlook.

If the HDZ stays in control, the country would continue a pro-Western course in supporting Ukraine.

But success for the SDP would shake the HDZ's long dominance of politics and potentially open space for stronger pro-Russian influence in the country, akin to Hungary and Slovakia.

Polls close tonight and official results are expected tomorrow.

Most pre-election polls predicted a victory for the HDZ, but without enough seats to rule alone.

The HDZ has largely held power since Croatia gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

The nation became the newest member of the European Union in 2013, and joined Europe's passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year.

A Russian missile attack onsocial and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's northern city ofChernihiv killed at least four residents, the acting mayor has said.

Earlier, regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus said:"The enemy hit with three missiles almost in the city centre.There are victims among civilians and many injured."

Emergency services and medics were reportedly working at the site, but limited further details were available.

Chernihiv is about 93 miles away from Kyiv, and the strike comes amid an intensification of Russia'sdrone and missileattacks on Ukrainian cities, targeting the country's powersector and other critical infrastructure.

Welcome back to our coverage of the Ukraine war.

Here are the main updates on the conflict that have occurred while we haven't been able to bring you live updates.

This morning, a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian town of Chernihiv has killed at least four people and damaged infrastructure, according to local officials.

Three projectiles reportedly hit close to the city centre, with civilians among the dead and "many injured".

Here's a quick round-up of some of the other news:

• Croatians are going to the polls in an election which has seen battle lines drawn over whether the country should lean more towards NATO or Moscow;
• A woman in America is due in court over allegations of posing as an Irish heiress, running a bogus charity for Ukraine;
• EU leaders are set to meet to discuss foreign affairs, including support for Ukriane, in Brussels later today;
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a lack of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around the capital Kyiv;
• The IAEA warned that attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant put the world at risk.

The map below shows the latest territorial picture in Ukraine...

While we haven't been able to bring you live updates today, we have been keeping an eye on what's been happening in the Ukraine conflict.

Here's a quick round-up of the key updates so far:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a lack of air defence missiles prevented Ukraine from thwarting a Russian missile attack last week that destroyed the biggest power plant in the region around the capital Kyiv;
• Ukraine's air defence systems destroyed all nine drones launched in a Russian attack, the air force said;
• The IAEA warned that attacks on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant put the world at risk;
• The Kremlin reacted to French President Emmanuel Macron's call for a truce in international conflicts during the Paris Olympics and said Ukraine might use it as an opportunity to regroup and rearm;
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to exert influence over Russia to end the war in Ukraine.