At least 17 people have died and several were injured in a Russian air strike on the city of Chernihiv, an attack President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said couldn't be thwarted because Ukraine lacked "sufficient" air defenses due to dwindling supplies from allies, especially the United States, where politicians are deadlocked over a military assistance and aid package worth some $62 billion.
Vyacheslav Chaus, governor of the Chernihiv region, said the air attack by Russian forces came after an air-raid alert was declared at 8:50 a.m. local time on April 17. The number of people killed was raised to 17, including two who died in the hospital, Emergencies Services said. Sixty people were injured.
Chaus said three missiles were fired at almost the center of the city, damaging 16 residential apartment buildings, a school, and a hospital.
Chernihiv Mayor Oleksandr Lomako expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims and announced that April 18 would be a day of mourning in Chernihiv for those who died. He said the strikes hit local civil and social infrastructure in the city, which lies about 145 kilometers north of Kyiv. It has been hit several times since Russian tanks swept into Ukraine from nearby Belarusian territory in February 2022.
Zelenskiy had warned earlier on Telegram that the death toll may rise.
"This would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air-defense equipment and if the world's determination to counter Russian terror was also sufficient," Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram.
"Determination matters. Support matters. Ukrainian determination is enough. There needs to be sufficient commitment from partners and sufficient support to reflect it," he added.
Russia has drastically stepped up its air attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv's forces run low on air defenses and ammunition while desperately needed U.S. help remains stuck in the House of Representatives due to Republican opposition.
Ukrainian officials have desperately pleaded with Washington and its allies to step up military supplies and aid, saying Ukraine's air defenses were critical for the protection of its neighbors as well.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been seeking the votes needed to pass some $62 billion in aid for Ukraine, but many hard-right Republicans, especially those closely allied with former President Donald Trump, the party's presumptive nominee to run against President Joe Biden in a November election, have been skeptical about assisting Kyiv in its fight against Russia.
Confronted with a worsening lack of enough air defense systems, weapons, and ammunition as Western aid dries up, Kyiv has increasingly resorted to air and naval drone strikes deep inside Russian territory, targeting both military installations and critical oil-refining capabilities.
In Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimea region, a series of explosions rang out early on April 17 in the area of the military airfield in the northern city of Dzhankoy.
The Telegram channel Astra showed several videos from local residents that showed flames shooting skyward amid large plumes of smoke at what reportedly was the airfield.
The reports could not be independently confirmed. Russian authorities in Crimea did not immediately comment on the reports.
