Dozens of civilians were feared dead or wounded in a Russian missile attack on Monday in a crowded shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the death toll was “unimaginable,” citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were 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 quickly entered and spectators watched in danger.
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.
The strike unfolded as leaders of the world’s major economies prepared to impose new sanctions on Russia, such as a cap on oil prices and higher tariffs on goods. 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.
View of a shopping center affected by a Russian missile attack in Kremenchuk, Poltava region, Ukraine, on June 27, 2022. EMERGENCY SERVICE OF THE STATE OF UKRAINE via Reuters
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 lead 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.
The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, said one missile hit the mall and another hit a sports pavilion in Kremenchuk.
The Russian attack echoed pre-war attacks that claimed a large number of civilian casualties, such as one in March at a theater in Mariupol where many civilians had been hiding, killing about 600, and another at the April at a train station in the east. Kramatorsk that left at least 59 dead.
“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 “hit a very busy area, which is 100% sure it will have no link to the armed forces.”
The attack came when Russia was mounting a total assault on Ukraine’s last stronghold in Luhansk province in eastern Ukraine, “pouring 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 electricity,” said local neighbor 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.
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.
“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 unveiled 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.
Meanwhile, senior Biden administration officials have confirmed to CBS News that the White House plans to announce this week the purchase of an advanced medium- and long-range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine. CBS News correspondent Ed O’Keefe said Washington was expected to promise more artillery shells and radar systems as well, while trying to meet urgent requests from Ukrainian leaders.
Mr Biden and his fellow G-7 leaders, meeting in Germany on Monday, are likely to hear a new call from Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, who was to address them virtually from Kyiv. Sunday night, in a daily video, he told his country that Ukraine immediately needed military, financial and humanitarian aid to fight the Russian invasion.
As CBS News correspondent Ramy Innocent reports from the Ukrainian capital, Russia broke weeks of relative calm in Kyiv by firing a long-range missile shotgun at the city on Sunday morning. It was an apparent show of Kremlin strength when Western leaders gathered in Germany to bolster their military and economic support in Ukraine.
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