Seven killed, 90 wounded in Russian missile strike on Ukrainian city of Chernihiv

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Firefighters walk next to the Taras Shevchenko Chernihiv Regional Academic Music and Drama Theatre damaged by a Russian attack in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (AP)
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Both sides in the conflict – which started in February 2022 – have recently reported regular drone incursions by air and sea, as Ukraine enacts a counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming Russian-held territory. (AFP)
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Updated 19 August 2023
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Seven killed, 90 wounded in Russian missile strike on Ukrainian city of Chernihiv

  • Kyiv says Iranian-made Shahed drones were used in the aerial assault
  • People had been on their way to church to celebrate a religious holiday when the strike took place

CHERIHIV: 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 center of the city, in our Chernihiv. A square, the polytechnic university, a theater,” 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.
A short video accompanying Zelensky’s post showed debris scattered across a square in front of the regional drama theater, where parked cars were heavily damaged. The video also briefly showed a body slouched inside a car.
Chernihiv is a city of leafy boulevards and centuries-old churches about 145 km (90 miles) north of the capital Kyiv. The interior ministry said the roof of the drama theater had been destroyed in the strike.
Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities far from the front line with missiles and drones as part of the invasion it launched in February last year.
Kyiv’s air force said early on Saturday the Ukrainian military had shot down 15 out of 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Moscow in an overnight strike.


Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region

Cracks are seen on the ground in Wajima, Ishikawa prefecture, Japan Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, following an earthquake. (AP)
Updated 06 January 2026
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Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes Japan’s Chugoku region

  • Japan’s Nuclear ⁠Regulation Authority said there were ‌no irregularities at the plant

TOKYO: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude ​of 6.2 hit the western Chugoku region of Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
The epicenter of the ‌first earthquake was ‌in eastern ‌Shimane prefecture, ⁠the ​agency ‌said, adding that there was no danger of a tsunami. Chugoku Electric Power operates the Shimane Nuclear Power Station, about 32 km (20 miles) away.
Japan’s Nuclear ⁠Regulation Authority said there were ‌no irregularities at the plant.
A ‍spokesperson said ‍the utility was checking ‍on any impact on the plant’s No.2 unit, which has been operating since December 2024 after being ​shut down following the March 2011 disasters in Fukushima.
Earthquakes are ⁠common in Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active areas.
The earthquake had a seismic intensity of upper-5 on Japan’s 1-7 scale, strong enough to make movement difficult without support.
West Japan Railway said it had suspended Shinkansen bullet-train operations ‌between Shin-Osaka and Hakata following the quake.