At least 15 people were killed and more than 100 injured in Russia’s “Double Tap” attack on a shopping center in central Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities said Friday.
“The attack drones attacked in two waves. Thirty minutes after the first attack and the resulting fire, there was a second attack targeting emergency responders,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
He warned that Ukraine “will definitely respond” to the attack.
Video geolocated by CNN shows a drone crashing into a shopping center in Zelenskiy’s hometown of Krivy Ri, exploding and sending a fireball into the sky, with smoke from earlier attacks still visible.
At least 14 people killed, over 100 injured in Russian ‘Double Tap’ attack on Ukrainian shopping center
Video taken at the scene showed smoke filling the shopping center as people rushed to leave. Oleksandr Virkul, chairman of the city’s defense council, said the fire started in a store in the shopping center.
At least 130 people were injured, including several children, according to the Dnipropetrovsk district prosecutor’s office. Virkle said at least 29 of the injured were in critical condition, including a 14-year-old girl with traumatic brain injuries and four other children.
Emergency services are still working to remove debris. Several people are missing and cannot be contacted, Virkle added.
Russia has stepped up airstrikes against Ukraine in recent months as the country’s air defenses come under strain amid a deadly stalemate with little movement on the front and slow progress.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha renewed his call for allies to provide more anti-missile equipment and impose additional sanctions on Russia’s military-industrial complex.
“Russia must be denied both the ability to produce and use these terrorist instruments,” he said.
The attack on the shopping mall came a day after Russia carried out a major offensive in Kiev and surrounding areas, killing at least 17 people, Ukraine said.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
