Russia struck a Danish-funded demining mission operating in northern Ukraine’s Chernihiv on Thursday, killing at least two and injuring three.
Chernihiv is located north of Kyiv, approximately 77 kilometers (48 miles) from the Russian and Belarus border to the north of the city.
Dmitry Bryzhynskyi, head of the Chernihiv City Military Administration, reported the strike on Thursday afternoon via a Telegram update.
He initially said the missile hit an enterprise within the city limits before issuing a clarification that it struck near a checkpoint.
“The missile strike was launched near the checkpoint at the entrance to the settlement of Novoselivka,” Bryzhynskyi wrote in a subsequent update.
Novoselivka is located northeast of the city of Chernihiv, situated at the exit of a highway leading into the city.
“The missile strike targeted a humanitarian demining mission personnel who were carrying out demining work in the area,” Bryzhynskyi later added.
Around 30 minutes later, he issued another update noting that two personnel were killed and three were injured.
Vyacheslav Chaus, the governor of the Chernihiv region, said the deceased worked for a demining team funded by the Danish Refugee Council.
“First, the Russians littered the area with explosives and mines. Now they are killing people, civilians, who, risking their lives, are clearing our land of the consequences of the Russian invasion,” Chaus wrote in a Telegram update.
It is unclear what type of missile Russia used for the strike at the time of publication.