Chilling video captured the deadly aftermath of Russian air strikes on Chernihiv which killed at least 33 and left dozens of Ukrainian bodies strewn across its streets.
At least 33 civilians were killed in the airstrikes and at least 22 bodies have been recovered from rubble, the Ukrainian emergency services said in an online post.
Located to the northwest of Kyiv, Chernihiv as been among the more hard-hit regions of Ukraine as Russia’s attack begins its second week.
Dashcam footage, verified by Reuters, shows a flurry of rockets raining down on the city on Thursday as the driver maneuvers through the city’s center.
A massive blast suddenly explodes directly in front of the driver. As the smoke begins to clear, dozens of people are seen fleeing from the blast.
More video footage shows firefighters standing in rubble dousing flames with hoses as rescue crews carried at least one person on a stretcher and another helper assisted a person down a ladder.
Smoke spewed from a high-rise building just behind what appeared to be a children’s swing set, according to video released Thursday by the Ukrainian government.
Ukraine’s state emergencies agency says at least 33 civilians were killed and another 18 were wounded in the Russian strike on Thursday. Rescuers are still searching the debris for bodies.
At least 33 civilians were killed in the airstrikes and at least 22 bodies have been recovered from rubble, the Ukrainian emergency services said in an online post
Chilling video captured the deadly aftermath of Russian air strikes on Chernihiv which killed at least 33 and left dozens of Ukrainian bodies strewn across its streets
Debris are seen after the shelling attack by the Russian army, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine, March 3
Dashcam footage, verified by Reuters, shows a flurry of rockets raining down on the city on Thursday as the driver maneuvers through the city’s center
A view shows a residential building damaged by recent shelling, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Chernihiv
More video footage shows firefighters standing in rubble dousing flames with hoses as rescue crews carried one person on a stretcher and another helper assisted a person down a ladder
Indiana Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz revealed in an emotional TV interview that her 95-year-old grandmother had to relocate to the basement of her apartment building in Chernihiv after the neighboring building was bombed.
Spartz, who is the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, recounted the terrifying episode as she appealed for military aide for Ukraine and said Russian President Vladimir Putin should be investigated for war crimes.
‘Interestingly enough, my grandma turns 95 today and we couldn’t reach her,’ Spartz told Fox New in an interview.
‘My mom just called me a few minutes ago and told me that we reached her neighbor and the building next to her was hit so it blocked all of her windows in the apartment and they moved into the basement,’ she continued.
She said her grandmother was safe in the basement but the humanitarian crisis had reached a new level in the country where she was born.
Indiana Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz said her 95-year-old grandmother living in Ukraine had to relocate to the basement after the building across the street was hit with explosives
Spartz said her grandmother lives in Chernihiv. This grab made from a handout video released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, shows a damaged apartment building which is said was hit by shelling in Chernihiv on March 3, 2022
‘I was just listening to the mayor. Saying they hit directly buildings, blood banks, schools, water towers, electric facilities. They have nothing. People in the basement with no food, no electricity, nothing. My friend just called relatives in the city by Kyiv. They are on the ground crying and they tried to talk to Russians to have safe passage they didn’t do it,’ she said.
‘They actually bombed train stations and train cars to make sure people cannot get evacuated,’ she said, calling for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to assist with evacuations.
Asked about the attacks on civilian targets, she said advocates were ‘documenting’ what was happening to ensure ‘there is accountability.’
These aren’t military targets. They are places where civilians work and families live. We’re looking very closely at what is happening in Ukraine right now including what’s happening to civilians. We are taking account of it. We’re documenting it. And we want to insure among other things that there is accountability for it,’ Spartz said.
Russian forces shelled Europe’s largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.
The world’s leading nuclear authorities saw no immediate cause for alarm about damage to the facility, but the assault triggered a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the U.S. Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.
The attack on the eastern city of Enerhodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unfolded as the invasion entered its second week and another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.
Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.
Firefighters cannot get near the flames because they are being shot at, he said, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted a plea to the Russians to stop the assault and allow fire teams inside.
‘We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire,’ Tuz said in a video statement. ‘There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.’
The assault renewed fears that the invasion could result in damage to one of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors and trigger another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital.
33 people have died and dozens injured after Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern Ukrainian city
Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said ‘armed visitors’ had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin’s men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine’s main naval port, to attack – with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted that the Zaporizhzhia plant’s reactors were protected by robust containment structures and were being safely shut down.
In an emotional speech in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be ‘the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.’
‘Only urgent action by Europe can stop the Russian troops,’ he said. ‘Do not allow the death of Europe from a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.’
But most experts saw nothing to indicate an impending disaster.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire had not affected essential equipment and that Ukraine’s nuclear regulator reported no change radiation levels. The American Nuclear Society concurred, saying that the latest radiation levels remained within natural background levels.
‘The real threat to Ukrainian lives continues to be the violent invasion and bombing of their country,’ the group said in a statement.
The plant’s reactor is a different type than the one used at Chernobyl, and there should be little risk if the containment vessel is not damaged and outside power can be restored, said Jon B. Wolfsthal, a former senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council and former special adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden.
‘Everyone needs to take a step back and not jump to conclusions,’ Wolfsthal, now a senior adviser at Global Zero, said on Twitter.
The mayor of Enerhodar said earlier that Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city’s outskirts.
Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars, just a day after the U.N. atomic watchdog agency expressed grave concern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors.
The Ukrainian state atomic energy company reported that a Russian military column was heading toward the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard late Thursday.
‘Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikovs have come into the city. They are breaking down doors and trying to get into the apartments of local residents,’ the statement from Energoatom said.
Later, a live streamed security camera linked from the homepage of the Zaporizhzhia plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facility’s parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.
There were then what appeared to be bright muzzle flashes from vehicles, followed by nearly simultaneous explosions in the surrounding buildings. Smoke then rose into the frame and drifted away.
While a huge Russian armored column threatening Kyiv appeared bogged down outside the capital, Vladimir Putin’s forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the West to close the skies over the country’s nuclear plants as fighting intensified. ‘It is a question of the security of the whole world!’ he said in a statement.
The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would pit Russian and Western military forces against each other.
The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.
