A bustling shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was hit by a Russian missile strike Monday, killing at least 10 people and leaving scores more injured.
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.
The number of casualties is becoming clearer and has risen from the initial reports of two deaths. Regional governor Dmytro Lunin reported that the missile strike killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 40 others, warning that the toll could rise.
Zelenskyy stressed that the target presented “no threat to the Russian army” and had “no strategic value.” He accused Russia of sabotaging “people’s attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry.”
“Russia continues to take out its impotence on ordinary civilians. It is useless to hope for decency and humanity on its part,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said X-22 air-to-surface missiles hit the building, fired by Tu-22 long-range bombers from Russia's Kursk region.
Earlier on Monday, Kremenchuk’s mayor said people had been killed and injured in an attack on a “very crowded area” of no military importance, but gave no details of casualties.
“A rocket attack on Kremenchuk hit a very crowded area, which is 100% certain not to have any links to the armed forces. There are killed and injured people,” the city’s mayor, Vitaliy Maletskiy, wrote on Facebook, without giving the number of victims.
Ukrainian authorities said emergency teams were at the scene.
Regional governor Lunin, who heads the Poltava administration, confirmed that more than 1,000 civilians were inside the shopping center at the time of the attack. Writing on Telegram, Lunin said that the building remained engulfed by flames.
In the wake of the strike, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the body is concerned about the intensifying fighting in Ukraine and the "deplorable" attack on a shopping mall.
"It is deplorable, to say the least. Any sort of civilian infrastructure, which includes obviously shopping malls, and civilians should never ever be targeted," Dujarric told reporters.
The attack came as Russia was mounting an all-out assault on the last Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Luhansk region, “pouring fire” on the city of Lysychansk from the ground and air, according to the local governor. Western leaders pledged steadfast and continued support for Kyiv.
NATO will also agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine – including secure communication and anti-drone systems – when they convene in Spain for a summit, according to the military alliance's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
