SRINAGAR: At least 14 people were killed and 121 others injured after Russian drones struck a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians and emergency responders.
Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration chief Oleksandr Ganzha said the attack caused fires at the shopping centre and resulted in 14 deaths. Local authorities said 22 children were among those injured.
Zelenskyy said the attack on the central Ukrainian city, which is his hometown, involved a second strike on the same location. According to the Ukrainian president, another drone hit the building’s roof about 30 minutes after the initial attack, when emergency workers had arrived at the scene.
He said the second strike appeared to have targeted personnel responding to the initial attack.
“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskyy said on social media, according to the Associated Press.
He separately described the strike as an “absolutely cynical and despicable strike” and urged Ukraine’s international partners to increase pressure on Russia.
The attack was among several Russian strikes reported across Ukraine on Friday. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ivan Vygivsky said four more people, including three minors, were killed in a separate Russian strike in the southern Mykolaiv region.
Kryvyi Rih, a major industrial city in central Ukraine, has repeatedly been targeted during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The latest attacks come amid an intensification of Russia’s aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities, while Kyiv continues to seek additional air-defence systems from its Western allies. Ukrainian forces have faced particular difficulties intercepting some Russian ballistic missile attacks.
The United Nations has reported that civilian deaths in Ukraine this year have reached their highest level since the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy also spoke with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday and said he briefed him on the latest Russian attacks and civilian casualties.
The latest casualties were reported days before Kyiv is due to host a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, where Ukraine’s allies are expected to reaffirm their support on the country’s Independence Day.
The meeting, scheduled for Monday, will be co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron, participating by video, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Around 10 leaders and European Council President Antonio Costa are expected to attend in Kyiv, according to an EU official.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the war remain stalled. Ukraine has also increased attacks inside Russia in recent months, while Moscow continues to demand extensive territorial and political concessions from Kyiv.
Zelenskyy has rejected those demands, saying acceptance would amount to capitulation and could leave Ukraine exposed to another Russian offensive.
