At least 16 people were killed and more than 130 others wounded after several Russian drones struck a shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, according to local authorities.
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said 22 children were among those injured in the daytime attack on the city, which is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Hanzha said 29 people were in serious condition, including five children. In an update early Saturday, he said nine people, including two children, were believed to be missing as rescue teams continued searching through the rubble of the damaged shopping centre.
Zelenskiy condemned the attack as an “absolutely cynical and despicable” act, claiming that a second Russian drone struck the shopping centre around 30 minutes after the first in what he described as a deliberate attempt to target emergency responders.
“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskiy said in a Telegram post, calling on the international community to hold Russia accountable and warning that Ukraine would respond.
Separately, Ukrainian state media reported that at least four people, including three children, were killed and another woman wounded in a Russian drone strike in the southern Mykolaiv region on Friday.
The attacks come as Russia intensifies its aerial campaign against Ukraine, with the war approaching its fourth-and-a-half year. A Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv on Thursday reportedly killed 17 people.
Ukraine has also increased attacks on Russian territory, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s ability to sustain its war effort.
