A Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s northern city of Chernihiv killed seven people and wounded 144 on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in what the UN denounced as a “heinous” attack.<\/p>\n
The strike came during the Orthodox holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord, as some attended morning church services in the city.<\/p>\n
“It is heinous to attack the main square of a large city, in the morning, while people are out walking, some going to church to celebrate a religious day for many Ukrainians,” said Denise Brown, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
“I condemn this repeated pattern of Russian strikes on populated areas of Ukraine… Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law,” she added.<\/p>\n
Audrey Azoulay, director general of the UN’s cultural organisation UNESCO, said she was “appalled” by the attack, in a post on social media.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s culture ministry said the centre of Chernihiv, a city with a thousand-year history, is a candidate for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.<\/p>\n