The number of casualties from the Russian ballistic missile attack on the north-Ukrainian city of Chernihiv increased to 148, the head of Ukraine’s Chernihiv Oblast Administration, Viacheslav Chaus, said on the TV air.

The Russian attack took the lives of seven people, and 148 more asked for medical help or were taken to hospitals, Chaus said.

The attack happened on 19 August 2023. The next day in the morning, 41 people remained in Chernihiv hospitals, and 15 of them had operations.

Among the victims killed was 6-year-old Sofiyka, the long-awaited daughter of Olha and Oleksandr. A friend of their family, Kateryna Farafonova, wrote about the child’s death.

“You were a very kind and clever girl. You were beautifying this cruel world,” she wrote.

Also, the missile killed a student of Chernihiv Politechnical University, Yushchenko Nazar, two lecturers at the same university, Kormiltsyna Svitlana and Toruya Nataliya, and a local lawyer Volodymyr Vasylenko. Relatives of the three other victims didn’t publicly share information about them.

Nearly 60 buildings were damaged by the attack.

As was reported, the missile hit a local drama theater where Ukrainian drone manufacturers gathered for a meeting, seeking cooperation and demonstrating their products. The event was publicly announced, which sparked criticism in Ukrainian society. At the same time, most of the participants managed to go to the bomb shelter when the air alert was announced, although lots of passers-by were also wounded or killed.

Russian forces strike Chernihiv Drama Theater, causing 97 casualties (updated)