On Monday, Russian long-range bombers launched a missile that struck a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk, killing at least 18 and injuring over 40 people, raising fears of a “unimaginable” number of victims in “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history,” according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Zelenskky, about 1,000 citizens were trapped inside the mall, with many escaping. Images from the incident revealed massive clouds of black smoke, dust, and orange flames, with rescue services racing in to hunt for victims and put out fires in shattered metal and concrete. Onlookers looked on with pity.
“As rescuers scoured the smoking ruins, regional Governor,” Dmytro Lunin stated, “the casualty statistics were impossible to ascertain.”
According to Zelenskyy, the target posed “no threat to the Russian army” and had “no strategic importance.” He accused Russia of undermining “people’s attempts to live a normal life, which infuriates the invaders.”
According to the Ukrainian military, the retail complex was targeted by missiles fired from the skies over Russia’s western Kursk area by Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers.
The United Nations condemned the hit, emphasizing that civilian infrastructure “should never ever be targeted,” according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. Late Monday, the Group of Seven leaders released a statement denouncing the strike and declaring that “indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime.”