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At least 15 people were killed and more than 130 wounded on Friday when several Russian drones struck a shopping centre in central Ukraine, authorities said, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promising a response to what he called an “act of barbarism.”
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said that 22 children were among the wounded in the daytime attack on the city of Kryvyi Rih, which is Zelenskyy’s hometown.
“There are 29 people in serious condition, including five children,” Hanzha said.
He posted a photo of black smoke billowing from a large industrial building.
Zelenskyy called the attack “absolutely cynical and despicable,” saying that a second Russian drone hit the shopping centre half an hour after the first in what he said was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services.
‘We will definitely respond’
“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram, urging the world to hold Russia to account. “We will definitely respond.”
In a separate attack on Friday, at least four people, including three children, were killed and a woman was wounded after a Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian state media said on Telegram.
In what many see as Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy’s biggest challenge since the 2022 Russian invasion, ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has publicly called for a wartime presidential election. Federov’s firing last month triggered protests across Ukraine.
Russia is escalating its air war on Ukraine as fighting on the battlefield grinds toward the 4-1/2-year mark. On Thursday, 17 people were killed in a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukraine has also stepped up its own attacks on Russia, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure to try to undermine Moscow’s ability to wage war.
The two countries have been locked in a state of all-out conflict ever since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
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