At least 16 individuals lost their lives and over 130 sustained injuries on Friday due to multiple Russian unmanned aerial vehicle strikes on a retail center 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 regional governor, Oleksandr Hanzha, disclosed that the city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s birthplace, was targeted during daylight hours, resulting in 22 children among the wounded. Hanzha reported that 29 individuals, including five children, are in critical condition, with a photograph showing dark smoke rising from a large industrial structure.
A subsequent update by Hanzha early on Saturday revealed that nine people, including two children, were preliminarily unaccounted for, and rescue efforts were ongoing at the shopping center site to clear the debris.
Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “absolutely cynical and despicable,” highlighting that a second Russian drone struck the shopping center half an hour after the initial assault, indicating a deliberate effort to target emergency responders. He characterized such attacks as terrorist acts and pledged a definitive response while urging global accountability for Russia’s actions.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also condemned the shopping center attack, describing it as a manifestation of Moscow’s malevolent intentions to render Ukrainian cities uninhabitable. Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, deplored the civilian casualties resulting from the assault in Kryvyi Rih, emphasizing the imperative to protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law.
In a separate incident on the same day, Ukrainian state media reported that at least four individuals, including three children, lost their lives, and a woman sustained injuries following a Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seen an escalation in aerial warfare, with recent casualties from ballistic missile attacks in Kyiv and retaliatory strikes on Russian oil facilities by Ukraine. The two nations remain embroiled in a protracted conflict since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
