At least 20 people were killed when Russian forces launched a missile strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the mall was hit when hundreds of people were in it at the time. The Ukrainian defence ministry said the attack was deliberately timed to coincide with the mall’s busiest hours and cause the maximum number of casualties.

The search for survivors continues at the mall and the death toll is expected to rise.

According to Ukraine’s emergency services, twenty people are known to have been killed and 59 had been injured.

Ukrainian prosecutors said they also found the remains of a further six people.

Authorities estimate there were between 200 and 1 000 people inside the mall when it was hit by the Russian missiles.

Many of the people managed to flee to a nearby bomb shelter when they heard an air raid siren.

Yevhenia Semyonova (38), a shop assistant at a sportswear store in the mall said she left the building a few minutes before the explosion. Said Semyonova:

I left the building two minutes before the explosion. My colleagues who are working in bigger stores, like the supermarket, for example, had to wait for the customers to get out before they could leave.

We were lucky because there were no customers in our story during the alarm.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the G7 condemned the “abominable attack” and pledged “unwavering support” for Ukraine. Reads part of the statement:

We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack. Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime.

[Vladimir] Putin and those responsible will be held to account. We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war on Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022 in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014.

Putin’s call for Ukraine’s military to overthrow the Kyiv government fell on deaf ears as the country mounted a strong resistance that forced Russia to abandon its plans to capture the capital and redirect its attack on the east of the country. 

Source Pindula News