Just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the G7 summit, Russian missiles hit a busy shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk. According to the rescue workers, the number of fatalities rose to at least 16 on Monday evening. 13 deaths had previously been mentioned. 59 other people were injured, said the head of the Ukrainian emergency services, Serhij Kruk, on Tuesday night in the messenger service Telegram. 25 of them were taken to the hospital.
The emergency services would continue to carry out rescue work, “remove debris and extinguish fires,” Kruk explained. “The work will continue around the clock”.
There was initially no reaction from the Russian side. The president said there were around 1,000 customers in the building when the missile struck. In a video that Selenskyj spread among others, the burning building could be seen with thick clouds of dark smoke.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, X-22 air-to-surface missiles were used in the attack. These were fired by Tu-22 long-range bombers from the Russian region of Kursk, it said.
G7 summit condemns attack – “war crimes”
The G7 summit condemned the rocket attack on the shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk and threatened Russia with consequences. “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians are a war crime. Russia’s President Putin and those responsible will be held accountable,” said a statement by the summit participants on Monday evening.
US President Joe Biden also blamed Russia for the missile attack and sharply criticized the incident. “Russia’s attack on civilians in a shopping center is cruel,” Biden wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night. “We are in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
“As demonstrated at the G7 summit, the US, along with our allies and partners, will continue to hold Russia accountable for such atrocities and support Ukraine’s defense,” Trump said.
French President Emmanuel Macron described the attack as “absolute horror”. We share the pain of the victims’ families and the anger at such a disgrace, the head of state wrote in a tweet on Monday evening. The Russian people must see the truth.
“It is useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia”
On Monday afternoon, President Zelenskyy described the situation on his Telegram account: “The shopping center is on fire. Firefighters are trying to extinguish the fire.” He further wrote: “It is useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia.” Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the President, labeled Russia a terrorist state.
The missile attack will also concern the UN Security Council. The most powerful UN body wants to advise on the subject on Tuesday, as diplomats in New York announced on Monday. The meeting was scheduled at the request of Ukraine.
The country’s largest oil refinery is in Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk, an industrial city of 217,000 before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, is the site of the country’s largest oil refinery.
Time and again, the Russian military deliberately fired on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and murdered civilians in order to spread fear and terror among the population. It is unclear whether the rockets actually intended to hit the shopping center or another target but missed. In the immediate vicinity of the shopping center there is a road construction machinery factory.
