US citizen killed in Russian artillery blast on Chernihiv, Ukrainian police say

A US citizen was reportedly among civilians killed in a Russian artillery blast on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Chernihiv Region Police wrote Thursday on Facebook that ‘police are documenting the consequences of enemy shelling of civilians in the center of Chernihiv’.

‘Today, the occupiers once again carried out a heavy artillery attack on unarmed civilian residents of the city,’ the post reads. ‘There are dead and wounded people. Among the dead – a US citizen.’

The post continues: ‘Police officers are helping to evacuate affected citizens to medical facilities. Chernihiv police investigators are working at the scene. Law enforcement officers are carefully documenting all the circumstances and consequences of Russian war crimes.’

The report of the American citizen’s death has not yet been confirmed by the US State Department.

A State Department spokesman told the Daily Mail on Thursday: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine on March 17. We are monitoring the situation closely but cannot confirm these reports at this time. 

‘We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of all whose lives have been lost in this unprovoked and unjustified war. We have no further comment at this time.’ 

More than 50 people died in the shelling in Chernihiv, including 10 people in line to buy bread at a grocery store, according to the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office.

Russia has denied it was involved in the deaths.

An American journalist, Brent Renaud, was killed on Sunday as he was filming refugees in Irpin, near Kyiv.

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