At least 16 individuals lost their lives and over 130 sustained injuries on Friday following multiple drone attacks conducted by Russian forces on a shopping center located in central Ukraine, as confirmed by authorities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the incident as an “act of barbarism” and vowed to take action in response. The daytime assault in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s birthplace, left 22 children among the wounded, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha.
Hanzha reported that 29 individuals, including five children, are in critical condition, with a photo showing dense black smoke emerging from a large industrial structure. In a subsequent update early on Saturday, Hanzha disclosed that nine people, including two children, were initially unaccounted for, and rescue teams were actively clearing debris from the shopping center.
Zelenskyy labeled the attack as “absolutely cynical and despicable,” highlighting that a second Russian drone struck the shopping center 30 minutes after the initial assault—an intentional act aimed at targeting emergency response units. Describing such incidents as acts of terrorism, Zelenskyy, via Telegram, called on the global community to hold Russia accountable, asserting that Ukraine will retaliate.
European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in a statement on X, condemned the shopping center assault as a demonstration of Moscow’s extreme brutality in warfare. Kallas emphasized that Russia’s actions are deliberately designed to instill terror, with the objective of rendering Ukrainian cities uninhabitable.
Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, decried the devastating impact on civilians resulting from the Kryvyi Rih attack, stressing the importance of upholding international humanitarian law that prohibits indiscriminate assaults on non-combatants and civilian infrastructure. Additionally, a separate drone strike in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region claimed the lives of at least four individuals, including three children, and left a woman injured on the same day.
Amidst the ongoing conflict that has persisted for over four years, Russia has intensified its aerial operations against Ukraine, with recent casualties reported in the capital Kyiv due to a ballistic missile strike. In response, Ukraine has escalated its own counterattacks, focusing on disrupting Russia’s oil facilities and logistical networks to weaken Moscow’s war capabilities. The protracted conflict between the two nations has been ongoing since Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
