Dozens of civilians were feared dead or wounded in a Russian missile attack Monday at a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian officials said. reports that there were more than 1,000 civilians inside at the time of the attack.
Images of the scene showed giant black smoke feathers from the mall surrounded by flames, while emergency crews rushed in and spectators stared in anguish.
The Ukrainian army said the mall was hit by missiles fired by long-range Russian Tu-22M3 bombers from the sky over the western Kursk region. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine via AP) (AP) Vladimir Zelenskyy said the number of victims was “unimaginable.” (AP)
At least 11 people were killed and more than 40 injured, according to regional governor Dmytro Lunin, who said rescuers were still combing the smoky remains to find more victims.
Meanwhile, the U.S. was preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv, and NATO planned to increase the size of its rapid reaction forces nearly eightfold to 300,000 troops.
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Zelenskyy said the target posed “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.”
The Ukrainian army said the mall was hit by missiles fired by long-range Russian Tu-22M3 bombers from the sky over the western Kursk region.
Firefighters are working to extinguish a fire in a burned-out mall after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on Monday, June 27, 2022. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine via AP) (AP)
The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said one missile hit the mall and another against a Kremenchuk sports field.
“Russia continues to eliminate its impotence on ordinary civilians. It is useless to wait for decency and humanity on its part,” Zelenskyy said.
Mayor Vitaliy Maletskiy wrote on Facebook that the attack “affected a very crowded area, which is 100% sure it will have no link to the armed forces.”
The attack came as Russia was mounting a total assault on the last Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine, “blowing fire” on the city of Lysychansk from land and air, according to the local governor.
Russian forces appeared to be stepping up an offensive focused on trying to snatch the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine after forcing government troops to leave the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk in recent days.
Western leaders, for their part, promised firm and continued support in Kyiv. NATO will agree to offer more military support to Ukraine, including secure communication and anti-drone systems, when its leaders meet in Spain for a summit, according to military alliance secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
On Monday, west of Lysychansk, the mayor of the city of Sloviansk, potentially the next major battlefield, said Russian forces fired cluster munitions into the city after dawn, including one that went hit a residential neighborhood.
Authorities said the number of dead and injured had not yet been confirmed. The Associated Press saw a death: a man’s body was bent over the frame of a car door, his blood accumulating on the ground from wounds to his chest and head.
The blast blew up most of the windows in the surrounding apartment blocks and cars parked below, smearing the floor with broken glass.
“Everything is now destroyed. We are the only people left living in this part of the building. There is no power,” said local resident Valentina Vitkovska, crying as she spoke of the blast.
“I can’t even call to tell others what happened to us.”
In all, Zelenskyy’s office said at least six civilians were killed and 31 others were injured as part of intense Russian bombing of several Ukrainian cities over the past 24 hours, including Kyiv and major southern cities. the east of the country, but not counting the attack on Kremenchuk. and the bombing of the eastern city of Kharkiv where at least three people were killed and another 15 were injured.
He said Russian forces fired rockets that killed two people and wounded five at night in and around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and continued to aim at the key port of Odessa, south. . A missile attack destroyed residential buildings and injured six people, including a child, he said.
A police officer and a paramedic give first aid to a woman injured by Russian bombing in the city center of Slavyansk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Monday, June 27, 2022. (AP)
In Lysychansk, at least five high-rise buildings in the city and the last road bridge were damaged during the last day, the regional governor said. A crucial road linking the city with government-controlled territory to the south became impassable by bombing.
The city had a pre-war population of about 100,000, about a tenth of whom remain.
Analysts say that the location of Lysychansk on the banks of the river Siverskiy Donets gives a great advantage to Ukrainian defenders of the city.
The remains of a missile that dropped cluster bombs on a residential housing complex are found on the ground near the complex on June 27, 2022 in Sloviansk, Ukraine. (Getty)
“It’s a very difficult news to break. The Russians could spend many months and a lot of effort storming Lysychansk,” said military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.
At other events, in the Bavarian Alps of Germany, the leaders of the Group of Seven countries presented plans to seek new sanctions and pledged to continue supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”
In a joint statement on Monday after holding a video link session with Zelenskyy, the leaders stressed their “unwavering commitment to supporting the government and people of Ukraine in their courageous defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the your country “.
The United States seemed willing to respond to Zelensky’s call for more air defense systems after Russian troops hit Kyiv with long-range missiles on Sunday. Washington was expected to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine.
In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced plans to greatly expand the alliance’s rapid reaction forces as part of its response to an “era of strategic competition.” NATO’s response force currently has about 40,000 troops.
The British Defense Ministry said it was likely that Russia would become increasingly dependent on reserve forces during the coming weeks of the war.
Analysts have said that a call for reservists by Russia could greatly upset the balance of the war, but could also have political consequences for the government of President Vladimir Putin.