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KREMENCHUK — Russian A missile struck a crowded shopping mall in central Ukraine on Monday as Moscow fought for control of major cities in the east and Western leaders promised to help Kieu in a war "as much as necessary". President Rodymir Zelensky said.
Zelensky wrote in Telegram that more than 1,000 people were inside when two Russian missiles collided with a mall in the city of Kremenchuk, southeast of Kieu. At least 13 people were killed and 50 were injured, according to Ukrainian officials. The rescue team trolled broken metal and debris for the survivors.
"This is not an accidental hit. This is exactly Russia's calculated strike against this shopping center," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an evening video. Said in the speech. He said the death toll could increase.
Russia has not commented on the strikes accused by the United Nations and the Western allies of Ukraine. However, UN Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky accused Ukraine of using the incident to sympathize with the NATO military alliance summit on June 28-30.
"We have to wait for the Department of Defense to say, but there are already many serious contradictions," Polyanskiy wrote on Twitter.
At dawn in Kremenchuk, firefighters and soldiers brought lights and generators and continued their search. At the hotel opposite the street where the rescue workers set up the base, there was a line of families holding their hands in tears.
Kirill Zeborovsky, 24, was working at an electronics store in Confit and was looking for his friend Ruslan, 22, who hadn't been contacted since the blast. ..
"We sent him a message, but he wasn't called anything," he said. He left his name and phone number to rescue workers in case his friend was found.
UN spokesman Stephen Dujaric said the attack was "sad." Leaders of seven major democratic groups gathered for the annual summit in Germany condemned what they called a "disgusting" attack.
"We are uniting with Ukraine to mourn the innocent victims of this brutal attack," they wrote in a joint statement tweeted by a German government spokesman. .. "Russian President Vladimir Putin and his chief will be held accountable."
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Ukraine, after weeks of artillery and street combat, After losing the now abandoned city of Seberodnetsk, he endured another difficult day.
Russian artillery was bombarding twin Lysychans'k across the Siverskyi Donets. Lysychans'k is the last metropolis that Ukraine still holds in eastern Luhansk Oblast and is the main target of the Kremlin after the Russian troops were unable to occupy the capital Kyiv in the early days of the war.
Russia's missile attack killed eight people and injured 21 in Lysychans'k on Monday, said Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the region. There were no immediate Russian comments.
Ukrainian troops said Russian troops were trying to block Lysychans'k from the south. Reuters could not confirm Russia's report that Moscow troops had already entered the city.
'As long as it takes'
Russia on February 24 in Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" to oust the far-right nation. Invaded. Ensuring the security of the right nationalists and Russia. The war killed thousands, fled millions, and wasted in cities.
At the summit meeting in Germany, G7 leaders, including US President Joe Biden, continued to sanction Russia as long as necessary, internationally against President Vladimir Putin's government and its ally Belarus. He said he would increase the pressure.
"Imagine if Putin was allowed to escape the violent takeover of a huge mass of other nations, sovereignty and independent territories," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC. rice field.
The United States said it would complete another weapons package for Ukraine, including a long-range air defense system. This is the weapon Zelensky specifically requested when he addressed his leader on a video link on Monday.
In a speech to G7 leaders, Zelensky again demanded weapons, US and European officials said. He called for assistance in exporting grain from Ukraine and further sanctions on Russia.
G7 countries have pledged to put further pressure on Russia's finances, including a contract to limit Russia's oil prices, which U.S. authorities have described as "close", giving Ukraine an additional $ 29.5 billion. I promised.
"We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and support Ukraine as much as necessary," the G7 statement said.
The White House said Russia defaulted on external debt for the first time in more than a century, as full sanctions effectively separated the country from the global financial system.
Russia rejected this claim and told investors to go to western financial institutions for the cash sent, but bondholders did not receive it.
The war has brought difficulties to countries far beyond the borders of Europe, and the turmoil in food and energy exports has hit the world economy.
(Report by Reuters, written by Angus MacSwan, Nick Macfie, Rami Ayyub, edited by Frank Jack Daniel and Catherine Evans)
