Article author:
Reuters
KYIV — A Russian missile attack struck a crowded shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing at least two people and injuring 20, Ukrainian officials said.
The footage circulated by President Volodymyr Zelensky showed a huge flame raging in a vast building and dark smoke swirling into the sky as a spectator stood outside. Reuters couldn't see the footage right away.
Zelenskiy said more than 1,000 people were in the shopping center at the time of the attack. He didn't reveal the details of the casualties, but said, "I can't even imagine the number of victims."
Rescue operations were underway and nine of the injured were in serious condition, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Cheong Wa Dae.
"It doesn't make sense to expect dignity and humanity from Russia," Zelenskiy wrote in the Telegram messaging app.
Kremenchuk, a 217,000 industrial city before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, is located along the Dniepuru River in the Poltava region and is home to Ukraine's largest oil refinery.
There was no immediate comment from Russia denying the intentional targeting of civilians. (Report by Pavel Polityuk and Max Hunder, Written by Tom Balmforth, Edited by Timothy Heritage)
