Ukraine: Many civilians killed by a Russian strike on a “busy” shopping center
Firefighters attempt to tackle the blaze started after a Russian strike, also hoping to find survivors under the rubble of a shopping center in Kremenchuk, June 27, 2022. © Ukrainian Emergency Services, via AP
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3 mins
At least ten people were killed and more than 40 others injured on Monday in a Russian missile strike that burned down a "
busy
" shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, "
more than a thousand civilians
" were inside the building at the time of the attack.
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“
Ten dead and more than 40 people injured.
Here is the current situation in Kremenchuk because of the missile strike
,” said Dmytro Lounin, the governor of the Poltava region, where this city, which had some 220,000 inhabitants before the war, is located.
Located on the Dnieper River 330 km southeast of kyiv, it is home to the country's largest oil refinery.
This bombardment sparked a major fire sending columns of black smoke into the sky, images released by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky show.
“
The occupiers fired missiles at a shopping center where more than a thousand civilians were.
The mall is on fire and rescuers are battling the blaze.
The number of victims is impossible to imagine
,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Facebook.
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On other images released by the emergency services, we can see the charred remains of the building, in front of which firefighters are working.
According to Dmytro Lounin, however, it is unlikely to find many survivors in the smoking ruins of the shopping center because "
it was a big fire and there was a lot of smoke
".
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the mall was hit by Kh-22 anti-ship missiles fired from Tu-22 long-range bombers from Russia's Kursk region.
A place "
which has no connection with the hostilities
", according to Kiev
"
The missile fire on Kremenchuk hit a very busy place that has
no connection with the hostilities
", for his part reacted on Facebook Vitali Maletsky, the mayor of this city.
Dmytro Lounin denounced a "
war crime
" and a "
crime against humanity
", as well as an "
undisguised and cynical act of terror against the civilian population
", affirming that no military target likely to be targeted by the Russian army was not near the mall.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba on Twitter called on Kyiv's backers to
provide more heavy weapons
and impose
additional sanctions on Russia
.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, accused the country of being a "
terrorist state
" on Twitter and the Ministry of Defense spoke of a deliberate strike carried out at a time when the mall was "
particularly crowded
", in order to to "
cause as many victims as possible
".
World '
horrified
' by attack, Russia will be '
held to account
'
US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said the world was "
horrified
" by the strike.
Describing it as "
the latest in a series of atrocities
," the Secretary of State tweeted that the United States would continue to support its Ukrainian partners and hold "
Russia to account, including those responsible for atrocities
”.
The world is horrified by Russia's missile strike today, which hit a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall -- the latest in a string of atrocities.
We will continue to support our Ukrainian partners and hold Russia, including those responsible for atrocities, to account.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 27, 2022
“
This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism into which the Russian leader is ready to fall
,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson commented from the G7.
But Russian President Vladimir "
Putin must understand that his behavior will only strengthen the resolve
" of Westerners to support Ukraine, he added.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians as part of what it calls a "
special military operation
" in Ukraine, did not immediately comment on the bombardment.
(With AFP & Reuters)
►Also read:
Ukraine: four months of war and unforeseeable consequences
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