Two Russian missiles have hit a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 59, according to emergency services.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 1000 people were in the mall when the attack happened, which caused a huge fire and sent dark smoke blowing into the sky.
Zelensky called the attack “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history” and said most of the shoppers who were inside the mall when the blasts hit were able to escape.
“It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims…Its useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia,” Zelensky wrote on a Telegram messaging app.
At least 16 people were killed while 60 others were injured, according to the latest information on Tuesday morning. About 25 of the injured people were hospitalised with several of the missile victims said to be in critical condition, local authorities said.
Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, wrote on Telegram that more bodies were likely to be found as the rescue workers search through the rubble. “It’s an act of terrorism against civilians as there was no military target that the Russian forces were aiming for,” he said.
Rescue workers and soldiers worked into the night to try and look for any survivors and to also recover the bodies which were still in the damaged building. “We don’t understand how many people could be remaining under the rubble,” the regional rescue service chief said on television.