WARNING: The above video may disturb some readers.
The mall was nothing short of extraordinary, but in the midst of a war it was a getaway for those in this Ukrainian city who had decided not to flee.
At times on Monday afternoon, a summer reunion turned into a hellish hell.
Life and death depended on a buyer’s decision to heed another air raid siren and take refuge. Of those who remained, at least 18 were killed, more than 20 missing and a dozen injured.
People watch as bellows smoke after a Russian missile attack hit a crowded mall in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. (AP) Volunteers and state firefighters are working to extinguish a fire at a burned-out mall after a rocket attack on Kremenchuk. (AP)
The crowded shopping center in Kremenchuk, which housed the city’s largest toy store, is now the latest abbreviation for war crimes allegations against Russia.
As with previous attacks on a theater, a train station and a hospital elsewhere in Ukraine, Moscow authorities said the mall was not the target.
Aerial view of the damage. (AP)
A day after the airstrike, the scene still smelled of charred debris.
The sand hung in the air, irritating the skin and throat. Visitors put red carnations, a stain of color on the still-smoking ruins.
A woman lights a candle after the rocket attack. (AP)
Images on social media showed the burned body of a woman, white sneakers still intact, who appeared to have been trapped by the blast while trying to run. In another video, around the time of the impact, a man could be heard shouting at his mother.
An employee of the mall, who only gave his first name, Oleksandr, said he had gone out with a partner for a cigarette when the siren of the airstrike sounded. He described the moment of impact.
The evacuee says goodbye emotionally to his dog
A police officer inspects a fragment of a Russian rocket attached to the trunk of a tree about 300 meters from the epicenter of the deadly Russian rocket attack at a Kremenchuk shopping center. (AP)
“I had darkness in my eyes for two minutes,” he said.
“There was a black tunnel, smoke, fire. I started crawling. I saw the sun up there and my brain was telling me I had to save myself.”
A man injured in the deadly Russian rocket attack is in the bed of a city hospital. (AP) A police officer writes a report while a man injured in the attack tells him what happened. (AP)
Everything was on fire, he said.
An explosive wave threw him under a car. I couldn’t hear. The pieces of shrapnel were embedded in his leg.
“Thank God that was it,” he said. “I was very lucky.”
He estimated that 1,000 buyers and employees had been at the mall at the time, contradicting Russia’s claim that it was empty.
Kateryna Romashnya had just arrived at the mall as she was walking home from work when the explosion threw her to the ground and exploded through the nearby windows.
Surprised, he estimated that it was 10 to 15 minutes before another explosion occurred.
More than a dozen people died in the attack. (AP)
“I realized I had to run away,” Romashnya said, and ran with all his might.
“It was scary,” he said, and began to cry.
“You have to be a real monster” to destroy a mall, he said.
“I have no words anymore.”
Ukrainian authorities said that in addition to the direct impact on the mall, a factory was attacked, but denied that it housed weapons, as alleged by Russian officials.
Dr Kostyantyn Manayenkov, chief surgeon at a Kremenchuk hospital treating the injured, said nine people in intensive care were in “very poor condition”.
There had been injuries to his skull and some amputations, he said.
Some bodies were so burned that they were unrecognizable, said Denis Monastyrsky, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, who visited the site.
Identifying them could take days, he added.
Those inside the mall had had seven to ten minutes to get out and get safe when the warning sounded, he said.
Next to the street was a shelter.
Monastyrsky again begged the Ukrainians who have been living with these mermaids for four months now to understand the danger and act.
The country’s Attorney General Iryna Venediktova stressed that all Ukrainians must remain alert and wait for a similar strike “every minute.”
But near sunset on Tuesday, some residents were only able to stand and look at the ruins.
“Say something!” shouted a man, trying to wake them up.
“Pray to God to help us!”