More than 10,000 square meters went up in smoke after the explosion. A Russian missile hit a shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, June 27, killing at least 13 people and injuring at least 40 others. “It is too early to speak of the final death toll”warned the governor of the Poltava region, Dmytro Lounin.
“The missile launch at Kremenchuk hit a busy place that has nothing to do with the hostilities”quickly reacted on Facebook the mayor of Kremenchuk, Vytaly Maletsky.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the mall was hit by Kh-22 anti-ship missiles fired from Tu-22 long-range bombers from Russia’s Kursk region. The Ministry of Defense referred to a strike carried out on purpose at a time when the mall was “particularly crowded”in order to “make the maximum number of victims”.
“Shameless act of terrorism”
This city in central Ukraine had some 220,000 inhabitants before the war and had so far been spared from bombardment.
“The Russian strike […] on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk is one of the most brazen acts of terrorism in European history. A peaceful town, an ordinary shopping center [avec] inside women, children, ordinary civilians”denounced the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video broadcast on Telegram on Monday evening.
⚡️ Zelensky: ‘Russia strikes shopping center in Kremenchuk, while over a thousand people inside.’ “The mall is on f… https://t.co/P02ffXAXap
According to him, a thousand people were inside the building but “many people have managed to get out of it”.
“Only absolutely insane terrorists could hit such a facility with missiles, and they should have no place on Earth”continued Mr. Zelensky, referring to a “calculated strike”. According to the president, rescue operations were still underway on Monday evening and “The human losses could be significant”.
Security Council meeting
On Monday evening, kyiv called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the latest Russian bombings against civilian targets. It will be held Tuesday at 9 p.m. French time, the Albanian presidency of the highest UN body told Agence France-Presse. The firing of a missile at Kremenchuk “will be the main subject” of this session, said a spokesman for the Albanian mission.
Several Western countries strongly condemned the Russian Kremenchuk strike. “This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism into which the Russian leader is ready to fall”, commented from the G7, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The leaders of the G7 called “war crimes” and attack “abominable” Russian missile strike.
US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said the world was “horrified” by this attack which he described as “the latest in a series of atrocities”. Paris, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, condemned the ” appalling violations of international humanitarian law” from Russia, and asserted that Moscow should ” answer for these acts.
After this new strike, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, reiterated his requests to Ukraine’s allies to provide more heavy weapons to the country and to impose additional sanctions on Russia.