Russia is under international pillory after the rocket attack on a shopping center in eastern Ukraine with at least 16 fatalities.

The participants at the G-7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria, spoke of a war crime and threatened Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin with the consequences.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged modern air defense systems.

Meanwhile, the rating agency Moody's determined that Russia had defaulted on payments due to outstanding debts owed to international investors.

Explosions were reported in the city of Mykolaiv early Tuesday morning, Mayor Olexander Senkevich wrote in the Telegram news service.

Nothing is known about damage and casualties.

He called on residents to go to safe places.

Fire destroys mall after rocket hits

According to Zelensky, more than 1,000 people were in the shopping center in the city of Kremenchuk.

After the rocket hit, the building was engulfed in flames and burned out to a large extent.

Videos showed that mainly only concrete pillars and metal constructions remained.

According to the state rescue service, the number of confirmed dead rose to 16 on Monday evening.

Around 60 people were injured, half of them seriously, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said.

She also reported more than 40 missing person reports.

Selenskyj reiterates request for air defense systems

The President reminded that Ukraine asked for anti-aircraft systems before the war and immediately after the Russian invasion.

"People in the Kremenchuk mall deserve the same security as people in any mall in the world, whether it's somewhere in Philadelphia or Tel Aviv, or in a shopping arcade in Dresden," Zelenskyy said in his daily video address.

Zelenskyy: Russia "biggest terrorist organization in the world"

Zelenskyy described Russia after the attack as "the largest terrorist organization in the world".

That must also be determined legally.

"And everyone in the world needs to know that if you buy or transport Russian oil, have contacts with Russian banks, or pay taxes or customs duties to the Russian state, it means giving money to terrorists," Zelenskyy said.

G7: Putin will be held accountable

“Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians are war crimes.

Russian President Putin and those responsible will have to account for this,” the participants at the G-7 summit stated on Monday evening.

"Russia's attack on civilians in a mall is horrific," US President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter.

"This appalling attack shows once again the level of cruelty and barbarism the Russian leader is capable of," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.

Russian UN diplomat speaks of "provocation"

Russia's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, described the attack as a "new Bucha-style Ukrainian provocation".

Moscow has always dismissed the well-documented killings of Ukrainian civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha by Russian troops as alleged staging.

Regarding Kremenchuk, Polyansky claimed on Twitter without further explanation that there were "too many noticeable discrepancies".

Eight people killed in line for drinking water

According to the authorities, eight people were killed in a queue in front of a tank truck with drinking water in the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk in a Russian missile attack.

Another 21 were injured, wrote the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj, to the Telegram news service.

Lysychank is the last major city in the region under Ukrainian control.

In the city of Kharkiv, Russian shelling killed five civilians and wounded 22 others, according to Ukrainian regional commander Oleg Sinegubov.

Sinegubow wrote on Telegram that five children were among the injured.

Medvedev: Crimea will always be part of Russia

Former Russian President and current Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, reaffirmed Russia's claim to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

“For us, Crimea is part of Russia.

And that's forever," Medvedev told the Argumenty i Fakty newspaper.

Any attempt to take Crimea away from Russia is "a declaration of war on our country."

And if a NATO country were involved: “World War III.

Total disaster.” Crimea, part of Ukraine, was occupied by Russia in 2014.

The annexation is not recognized internationally.

Moody's finds Russia defaulting

The rating agency Moody's formally declared a default by Russia due to debt not being paid on time.

Specifically, it is about interest payments on two government bonds that have not reached creditors even after a default period of 30 days, Moody's said.

This time it is not a question of bankruptcy in the true sense.

The state coffers are well stocked, but Western sanctions over the war against Ukraine have made it difficult for the Kremlin to pay off debts abroad.

Therefore, the default comes as no surprise.

On the financial markets, the risk had been considered firmly calculated and manageable for months.

That will be important on Tuesday

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council will deal with the rocket attack on the shopping center in Kremenchuk.

The meeting at 21:00 CEST was scheduled at the request of Ukraine.

After the salvage work, there should be more clarity about the number of victims.

The leading democratic economic powers end the G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria with talks about the new world order after the Ukraine war.

Russian President Putin is on a visit to Tajikistan in Central Asia.