Russian Drones Kill 16 in Double Strike on Kryvyi Rih Shopping Centre
Two waves of drones hit the largest mall in President Zelenskyy’s hometown on Friday afternoon. Sixteen people died and more than 130 were wounded, including 23 children. A second strike landed while rescuers worked.
Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine1 min read
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Russian drones struck the Soniachna Halereia shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih twice on Friday afternoon. Local officials reported 16 dead and more than 130 wounded by early Saturday. Twenty-three of the injured were children. Nine people, including two children, remained missing as rescuers cleared rubble through the night.
The first drone hit in the afternoon and set shops on fire. About thirty minutes later a second, jet-powered drone struck the same site while emergency teams were already on the ground. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was born in the city, called the attack cynical and despicable and said it targeted responders.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said 29 people were in serious condition, five of them children. Sixty-three people stayed in hospital. Firefighters extinguished the blaze overnight but continued search operations.
The mall is the largest in Kryvyi Rih and was full of civilians at the time of the attack. Ukrainian air defences later destroyed another Russian aerial asset over the city on Friday evening.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described the strike as terror by design and said she would present the most far-reaching Russia sanctions listings since the war began when ministers meet next month. Zelenskyy urged the international community to increase pressure on Moscow.
The attack continues a pattern of daytime strikes on civilian gathering places. Ukrainian forces reported hitting Russian drone storage and logistics sites in occupied areas the same day.
