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Russian missile strike hits a crowded shopping mall in central Ukraine

June 27th, 2022

SLOVIANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Scores of civilians were feared killed or wounded in a Russian missile strike Monday on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was “unimaginable,” citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack. Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke from a shopping center engulfed in flames, as emergency crews rushed in and onlookers watched in distress.

At least 10 people were dead and more than 40 wounded, according to the Ukrainian regional governor. Zelenskyy said the target presented “no threat to the Russian army” and had “no strategic value.” He accused of Russia of sabotaging “people’s attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry.” The alleged Russian missile strike carried echoes of attacks earlier in the war that caused large numbers of civilian casualties — such as one in March on a Mariupol theater where many civilians had holed up, killing an estimated 600, and another in April on a train station in eastern Kramatorsk that left at least 59 people dead.

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SOURCE = NPR

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Russian missiles hit busy shopping centre in central Ukraine, killing 16 and injuring dozens

June 28th, 2022

Russian troops struck a shopping centre in Kremenchuk in the Poltava region with at least two missiles on Monday afternoon with over a thousand people inside, Ukrainian authorities claim. At least 16 people were killed in the strike while around 60 were injured, according to the latest information available early on Tuesday morning. At least 25 were left hospitalised with several victims of the missile strike said to be in critical condition, local authorities said the previous evening.  The casualty figures were changing as rescuers searched the smoldering rubble into early Tuesday. Soldiers worked into the night to lug sheets of twisted metal and broken concrete, as one drilled into what remained of the shopping centre’s roof.

Footage and images from the scene show that the entire shopping centre was engulfed in the blaze, with emergency crews and passers-by trying to help the victims. “The mall is on fire, firefighters are trying to extinguish the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated on his Telegram account. The attack was reminiscent of earlier strikes against civilian targets since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, such as the air strike on the Drama Theatre in the eastern port city of Mariupol in March, killing an estimated 600 of the people sheltering there.

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SOURCE = Euro News

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G7, UN condemn ‘deplorable’ Russian attack on Kremenchuk mall

June 28th, 2022

The leaders of the G7 have condemned a deadly Russian missiles attack on a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall as an “abominable” war crime. In a statement on Monday, the G7 leaders, who are holding a meeting in Germany, promised that Russian President Vladimir Putin and those responsible for the attack would be held to account. At least 18 people were killed in the raids on the city of Kremenchuk, while 59 were wounded. “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” the G7 statement said. Ukraine accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it “one of the most brazen terrorist acts in European history” in his evening broadcast posted on Telegram.

“A peaceful town, an ordinary shopping centre – women, children ordinary civilians inside,” said Zelenskyy, who earlier shared a video of the mall engulfed in flames with dozens of rescuers and a fire truck outside. Ukraine’s air force command said the mall was hit by two long-range X-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M3 bombers that flew from Shaykovka airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, wrote on Twitter, without citing evidence, that the attack was a “Ukrainian provocation”. “Exactly what Kiev regime needs to keep focus of attention on Ukraine before [the] NATO Summit,” he said, referring to the alliance’s Madrid gathering due to begin on Tuesday.

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SOURCE = Al-Jazeera

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Russian airstrike hits busy shopping mall in central Ukraine, sparking fears of mass casualties

June 28, 2022

(CNN)A Russian airstrike struck a bustling shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine on Monday, setting the building ablaze and prompting concerns of mass casualties. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the strike that up to 1,000 people were in the mall before the air raid was announced. “Fortunately, as far as we know, at that time, many people managed to get out, they managed to get out, but there were still people inside — workers and some visitors,” he said. At least 15 people were killed, according to a Telegram post from Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava region military administration, who said earlier that the death toll could rise. At least 58 people were injured, Ukraine’s State Emergency Services said.

Zelensky said in his nightly video address Monday that the rescue operation was ongoing and that “we must be aware that the losses can be significant.” Video from the scene showed heavy smoke billowing from the building, which was engulfed by fire. The mall measures about one hectare — roughly the size of two football fields — and the strike occurred around 4 p.m. local time, Solohub said. “We don’t know how many more people might be under the rubble,” said Volodymyr Solohub, a regional official in the Poltava Oblast local administration. Zelensky called the strike “one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in European history,” in his evening video address.

“A peaceful city, an ordinary shopping mall with women inside, children, ordinary civilians inside.”

“Only totally insane terrorists, who should have no place on earth, can strike missiles at such an object. And this is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike — exactly at this shopping mall,” he said. The attack targeted a site in central Ukraine far away from the epicenter of Russia’s war, which has recently been focused in the east of the country.

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SOURCE = CNN

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Russian missiles hit shopping mall in Kremenchuk

June 28th, 2022

The Russian military have launched missile strikes on a shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk, Poltava Region. Over 1,000 civilians were inside. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. “Russian occupiers launched missile strikes on a shopping mall with over 1,000 civilians inside. The shopping mall is on fire. Rescuers are extinguishing fire. It is impossible even to imagine the number of victims,” Zelensky wrote.

The President of Ukraine stressed that this facility posed no threat to the Russian army. “No strategic value. Just the attempt of people to live a normal life, which angers the occupiers so much. Russia continues to displace its powerlessness on ordinary citizens. It is useless to hope for its adequacy and humanity,” Zelensky added. Earlier, Kremenchuk Mayor Vitalii Maletskyi reported that the Russian missile hit a crowded place

SOURCE = UkraineForm