Russian drone attack on Kryvyi Rih shopping centre kills 14, wounds 121
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Russian drones struck a busy shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on Friday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 121, including 22 children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack on his hometown as a deliberate double strike targeting emergency services. A separate Russian strike in the Mykolaiv region killed four people, including three children.
Key Facts
- The death toll from the Kryvyi Rih shopping centre attack stood at 14 as of 8pm local time, with 121 injured, including 22 children.
- Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council, said 29 of the injured were in critical condition.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a second drone hit the shopping centre 30 minutes after the first, in what he called a deliberate attempt to target emergency services.
- A separate Russian strike in the Mykolaiv region killed four people, including three children, according to Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi.
- Kryvyi Rih lies roughly 60km (37 miles) from the front line and has come under repeated Russian attacks throughout the war.
The Attack
Russian drones hit the city's largest shopping complex on Friday, sparking a fire, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a second drone struck the shopping centre 30 minutes after the first, in what he claimed was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services. Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said shops inside the mall were set ablaze, and posted pictures showing thick black smoke rising from the facility amid high-rise residential buildings. A mall employee named Yuliana told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that parts of the ceiling collapsed in a parking garage where shoppers and staff had sought shelter during an air-raid alert.
Casualties and Response
The death toll as of 8pm local time (17:00 GMT) was 14, with 121 injured, including 22 children, Vilkul said. Vilkul said 29 of those injured were in critical condition, and a 14-year-old girl was being transferred to the regional children's hospital with a traumatic brain injury. Zelenskyy condemned the attack on his hometown as "cynical and despicable" and said attacks like these are "nothing less than terrorist acts." Videos on social media showed rescuers rushing to help the wounded on the street outside as smoke billowed from the building.
Wider Context
Al Jazeera's Audrey Macalpine, reporting from Kyiv, said it was unclear whether the mall was the intended target, as drones are at times intercepted and can fall haphazardly, but video footage suggested the attack was deliberate. Macalpine noted that Ukraine has been stepping up attacks in recent weeks on Russian warehouses linked to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, drawing Moscow's ire. Kryvyi Rih, an industrial city roughly 60km (37 miles) from the front line, has come under repeated Russian attacks throughout the war. Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukrainian cities in recent months, while Ukraine has stepped up its own attacks on Russian oil facilities and logistics infrastructure.
2 sources
Russian drone attack on Kryvyi Rih shopping centre kills 14, wounds 121
