‘US citizen among those killed’ in Russian shelling attack in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on ‘unarmed residents’

AN AMERICAN civilian has been killed in a Russian shelling attack on unarmed people in Chernihiv, Ukraine.

The State Department confirmed the American was killed on Thursday, following local reports.

According to Chernihiv officials, Russian forces carried out a second heavy artillery attack on civilians in the city on Thursday.

"The occupiers once again attacked with heavy artillery on unarmed civilians of the city. There are dead and wounded. Among the dead - a US citizen," Chernihiv Region Police said on Thursday.

Local officials said police were helping to evacuate affected citizens to medical facilities following the attack.

The deadly attack comes a day after 53 people were killed on Wednesday in Chernihiv amid intense bombardment.

"We are suffering heavy losses - 53 citizens were killed yesterday," Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

At least 10 people died after Russian troops reportedly opened fire on Ukrainian civilians queueing for bread at around 10am Wednesday.

James Jimmy Hall was identified as one of the fallen. James was born in Minnesota and was "gunned down by Russian military snipers," his sister said.

And Ukraine's emergency services said rescue workers discovered the bodies of five people, including three kids, among the rubble during searches of obliterated residential buildings wrecked by shelling.

In further harrowing scenes, video footage showed grieving Ukrainians removing bodies in bags from a truck before lowering them into mass graves in Bucha, just outside Kyiv.

It came after 's troops bombed a theatre said to be sheltering up to 1,200 terrified people - despite the word "children" being written outside the building.

The Mariupol Drama Theatre was used as a safe haven from Russia's relentless shelling of the southern port city, with meals being provided and people sleeping there overnight.

Around 20,000 Ukrainians have fled Mariupol as relentless bombardments continue, and it's estimated more than 2,300 citizens have been killed in the area.

The city's deputy mayor, Serhiy Orlov, said between 1,000 and 1,200 people were inside the theatre on Wednesday when it was targeted by the Russians.

It comes as...

• Russia has slapped a ban on Joe Biden and called for Alaska to become part of its territory again
• Volodymyr Zelensky has admitted Ukraine may never join Nato in a key concession that could pave the way to peace
• Putin's troops have taken hundreds of hospital staff and patients hostage in the besieged city of Mariupol
• Dramatic footage shows the moment a Russian tank was blown to smithereens by Ukrainian forces
• Ukraine has an unexpected trick up its sleeve in the battle against Russian forces and it comes in the form of a relatively cheap drone
• A nine-year-old girl has lost her arm after Russian forces machine-gunned her family when they tried to flee Kyiv
• Oligarchs including Roman Abramovich may never be able to return to Britain, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned

'PUTIN'S REGIME HAS CROSSED THE LINE'

In a statement, Ukraine's foreign ministry said: "The theatre building served as a shelter for hundreds of Mariupol residents who had lost their homes as a result of Russian armed forces bombing and shelling the city.

"The bomb strike demolished the central part of the theatre building, causing large numbers of people to be buried under the debris.