Russian drones struck a busy shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, killing 16 people, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack also wounded 130 people, including 23 children, after a second drone hit the building about half an hour after the first.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned Friday’s strike as “terror by design” and said she would put forward the bloc’s most far-reaching Russia sanctions listings since the start of the war when ministers meet in Ireland next month.
What happened at the shopping centre
Videos from the scene showed rescuers helping wounded people outside the smoke-filled building. Ukrainian emergency services initially reported 15 deaths before Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said the toll had risen to 16.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack “cynical and despicable” and said the second strike targeted emergency responders. Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s home town, is an industrial city about 60km (37 miles) from the front line and has faced repeated Russian attacks during the war.
Related coverage: How Russia’s missile attacks are deepening Ukraine’s air-defence crisis.
A separate strike in Mykolaiv
Interior minister Ivan Vygivsky said four more people, including three children, were killed in a separate strike in the southern Mykolaiv region.
Kallas said the Kryvyi Rih attack showed what she described as the “absolute and utter depravity” of Moscow’s war and claimed Russia wanted to make Ukrainian cities unliveable.
What Ukraine’s allies plan to do
Ukraine’s allies are due to meet on Monday in Kyiv to reaffirm support for the country during talks on its independence day. The meeting of the “coalition of the willing” will be co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to the supplied report.
More context: Ukraine says North Korean military support to Russia is expanding.
About 10 leaders, including European Council chief António Costa, are expected to attend, according to an EU official. Zelenskyy has urged allies to respond with pressure and accountability for Russia, while saying Ukrainian forces are struggling particularly to intercept salvos of ballistic missiles.
Also read: Russia’s July casualties and glide-bomb attacks reached reported highs.
No comments yet. Start the discussion.