Russian missile attack kills 7 in northern Ukrainian city as Zelenskyy visits NATO candidate Sweden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Sweden connected Saturday, his archetypal sojourn to the state since Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine past year, portion astatine location a rocket onslaught successful the halfway of a bluish metropolis killed 7 radical and wounded scores of others.

The Swedish authorities said Zelenskyy volition conscionable officials astatine Harpsund, the premier minister's authoritative summertime residence, astir 120 kilometers (75 miles) westbound of Stockholm. He volition besides conscionable Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia astatine a palace successful the area.

Sweden abandoned its longstanding argumentation of subject nonalignment to enactment Ukraine with weapons and different assistance successful the warfare against Russia. The authorities says Sweden has provided 20 cardinal kronor (1.7 cardinal euros) successful subject enactment to Ukraine, including Archer artillery units, Leopard 2 tanks, CV-90 infantry warring vehicles, grenade launchers, anti-tank weapons, mine-clearing instrumentality and ammunition. Sweden besides applied for NATO rank but is inactive waiting to articulation the alliance.

As Zelenskyy arrived successful Sweden, a Russian rocket onslaught killed 7 radical and wounded 90 others successful the metropolis halfway of Chernihiv, the determination superior of the bluish Ukrainian state of the aforesaid name, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. A 6-year-old miss was among the dead, portion the wounded included 12 children.

Zelenskyy condemned the attack, which helium said deed buildings including a theatre and a university.

"This is what a vicinity with a violent authorities is, this is what we unite the full satellite against. A Russian rocket deed close successful the halfway of the city, successful our Chernihiv," helium wrote connected Telegram. "A square, the polytechnic university, a theater. An mean Saturday, which Russia turned into a time of symptom and loss."

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin visited apical subject officials successful the metropolis of Rostov-on-Don adjacent the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin said that Putin listened to reports from Valery Gerasimov, the commandant successful complaint of Moscow's operations successful Ukraine, and different apical subject brass astatine the office of Russia's Southern Military District.

The nonstop timings of his sojourn were not confirmed, but authorities media published video footage that appeared to beryllium filmed astatine night, showing Gerasimov greeting Putin and starring him into a building. The gathering itself was held down closed doors.

Putin's sojourn was the archetypal since the Wagner mercenary group's attempted mutiny successful June, which saw the group's fighters concisely instrumentality power of Rostov-on-Don.

During June's short-lived revolt, Wagner caput Yevgeny Prigozhin repeatedly denounced Gerasimov, who serves arsenic main of the wide unit of the Russian equipped forces, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for denying supplies to his fighters successful Ukraine.

Prigozhin claimed that the uprising was not aimed astatine Putin but astatine removing Gerasimov and different apical brass who helium claimed were mismanaging the warfare successful Ukraine.

Ukraine this week has claimed counteroffensive gains connected the southeastern front, regaining power of the colony of Urozhaine successful Ukraine's eastbound Donetsk portion connected Wednesday.

The person of the Russian battalion warring to support power of Urozhaine called for "freezing the front" connected Thursday, saying his troops "cannot win" against Ukraine.

"Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and successful the adjacent future, no," Alexander Khodakovsky said successful a video posted to Telegram.

Overnight into Saturday, Ukraine's aerial unit said it changeable down 15 retired of 17 Russian drones targeting Ukraine's northern, cardinal and occidental regions.

The lawman politician of the occidental Khmelnytskyi region, Serhii Tiurin, said 2 radical were wounded and dozens of buildings were damaged by an attack.

In the northwestern Zhytomyr region, a Russian drone onslaught targeted an infrastructure installation and caused a fire, but nary casualties were reported, said Gov. Vitalii Bunechko.