Intense Russian bombing northern Ukraine after a meeting between Putin and army commanders.

The city center of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine was subjected to Russian bombing, killing seven people and wounding 110, according to Kiev, and came shortly after a meeting held by Russian President Vladimir Putin with army leaders.

For its part, the Russian army announced killing 150 Ukrainian soldiers who tried to cross the Dnipro River, which forms the front line in southern Ukraine, where Kiev forces seek to penetrate Moscow’s defenses.

“A Russian missile hit the city center in Chernihiv,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Zelensky adding, “A square, Polytechnic University and a theater were hit… An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and losses… There are dead and wounded”.

At least seven people were killed and 110 wounded, according to a toll released Saturday by the acting mayor.

“117 people were injured in the terrorist attack in the city center of Chernigov, seven of them died,” Oleksandr Lomako said via Telegram.

The bombing took the city residents by surprise, which had remained away of violence by large-scale attacks in recent months, after it was briefly besieged by Russian forces at the start of the invasion in February 2022.

The Ukrainian city of Chernigov was targeted shortly after a meeting announced by the Kremlin on Saturday morning between Vladimir Putin and the Russian Army commanders in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.

Moscow didn’t mention the exact date of the meeting, but photos were posted by Russian media.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin held a meeting at the general headquarters of the special military operation in Rostov-on-Don”.

The statement added, “The president listened to the reports of the Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, and other sector leaders and officials”.

Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border, is the headquarters of Russian forces’ operations in Ukraine.

In June, the city was the scene of a rebellion waged by the Wagner mercenary group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, during which it briefly took control of the army’s general headquarters before stopping its movement.

On Saturday, the Russian army announced that it had thwarted a Ukrainian S200 air defense system missiles attack, which was used to strike Crimea.