A Russian drone strike on a shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed at least 14 people and injured 121 others on Friday, according to local officials. The attack, described by President Volodymyr Zelensky as "absolutely cynical and despicable," occurred in his hometown and was carried out in "two waves," with the second strike targeting emergency workers at the scene.
Dramatic footage verified by the BBC shows the second drone hitting the already burning shopping center in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia's military has not commented on the incident. Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul reported that the Russian drones were flying at "extremely low altitudes" and that some people remained unaccounted for.
The attack follows a significant Russian missile and drone assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, the previous day, which killed 17 people and injured more than 40. Blocks of flats, warehouses, a children's hospital, and a school were damaged in that overnight attack.
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine's military stated it had conducted strikes on an oil refinery and a military airfield deep inside Russia. Kyiv has intensified attacks on Russian energy facilities and warehouses of the online retailer Wildberries in recent months, describing them as legitimate targets that help finance Russia's war effort. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Russian forces currently control approximately one-fifth of Ukrainian territory in the country's south-east.