Zelenskyy vows a strong response after the attack on the city of Chernihiv

2023-08-20 20:54:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that his country would take strong action in response to a missile attack launched by Russia on Saturday against the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. As a result, 7 people were killed and around 150 others were injured.

"I am sure that our soldiers will respond to Russia for this terrorist attack. Respond tangibly," Mr. Zelenskyy said in a video speech released Sunday morning at the end of a visit to Sweden. This is the first time Mr Zelenskyy has left the country since attending a NATO meeting in Lithuania last month. The Ukrainian president said that among the victims was a 6-year-old girl, named Sofia, while adding that among the wounded, 15 were children.

The governor of the Chernihiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, said on Sunday that the total number of people confirmed as injured had risen to 148.

Further east, on Sunday morning, Russian forces shelled the town of Kupiansk, seriously injuring one person, according to Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov. Later in the day, one person was killed as a result of Russian grenade attacks in Vovchansk, a city located in the Kharkiv region, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced.

Mr. Zelenskyy arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday, two days after Kiev announced that the United States had given approval for Dutch and Danish authorities to hand over F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine's air force.

At a military airbase in the southern city of Eindhoven, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Mr. Zelenskyy that the Netherlands and Denmark are committed to handing over fighter jets to Kiev.

But he added that this will happen after certain conditions are met, which he did not make public.

The United States' approval on Friday for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver US-made F-16 jets to Ukraine has been seen as a major boost for Kiev, although the jets are not thought to have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war.

Meanwhile in Russia on Sunday, the Ministry of Defense said that its air defense systems had prevented an attack by two drones in the Belgorod region, which is located on the border with Ukraine./VOA