Russian forces killed four people and injured 60 others in a drone strike on a shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, according to Ukrainian officials. Images released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine showed firefighters battling burning vehicles amidst smoke in the city center. Two emergency service members were among the injured, along with a child.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, stating that "The Russians used drones to kill people who were simply standing near shopping centres." Pavlohrad, a logistics hub near the city of Dnipro, has been a target of previous Russian attacks. Last month, two people were killed in an attack on warehouses in the city.
This strike marks the third Russian attack on a shopping center in recent days, according to local media reports. On Wednesday, a Russian drone attack on a mall in Sumy killed two people and wounded 20. The following day, Russian aerial bombing reportedly injured eight people in Sumy, including three children.
In Zaporizhzhia, a shopping mall was nearly destroyed on Monday, though its owners reported it was closed at the time with no immediate casualties. Last month, one of the deadliest attacks on a shopping center occurred in Kryvyi Rih, where Ukrainian officials reported that Russian drones killed at least 16 people and injured 130.