Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a Russian missile struck a crowded shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, 27 June.
Governor of Poltava region, Dmitry Lunin said that the strike has killed 16 people and injured 59. Death toll due to the attack could grow, he added.
Zelenskyy said that more than 1,000 people were at the mall when the attack occurred. "It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims," he added.
A rescue operation is underway. As per Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, at least nine persons among the wounded are in serious condition.
“The occupiers fired missiles at the shopping centre, where there were more than a thousand civilians. The mall is on fire, rescuers are extinguishing the fire, the number of victims is unimaginable. Russia continues to take out its impotence on ordinary citizens. It is useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia," President Zelenskyy had written on the Telegram app after the attack occurred.
Kremenchuk, an industrial city that had a population of 217,000 before Russia's invasion began, is located beside the Dnipro river. It is the site of Ukraine's largest oil refinery.
Russia has not immediately commented on the strike.
The attack comes on a day when world leaders discussed ways to punish Russia for its invasion in Ukraine at the G7 summit in Germany. The leaders also pledged that they would stand with the east European nation "for as long as it takes."
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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