Russia attacked Ukrainian civilians on Monday by bombing a “busy” shopping mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine. At least 16 people lost their lives and more than 59 people were injured in this “brazen terrorist act”, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Updated yesterday at 11:44 p.m.
« Today’s Russian strike [lundi] on a shopping center in Kremenchuk is one of the most brazen acts of terrorism in European history. A peaceful town, an ordinary shopping center [avec] inside women, children, ordinary civilians,” Zelensky said in a video posted on Telegram.
According to him, a thousand people were inside the building, but “many people managed to get out”. “Only absolutely insane terrorists could strike such a facility with missiles, and they should have no place on Earth,” Zelensky continued, referring to a “calculated strike.”
Dominique Arel, holder of the Chair in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa, second.
It was premeditated. You don’t hit a mall like that in broad daylight by accident. It’s part of the strategy of terror: to attack the civilian population.
Dominique Arel, holder of the Chair in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the mall was hit by Kh-22 anti-ship missiles fired from Russia’s Kursk region near the border between the two countries. Following the attack, a fire broke out over more than 10,000 square meters.
Footage from the scene showed huge plumes of black smoke rising from the mall engulfed in flames, as emergency crews rushed to the scene. In the evening, rescue operations were still in progress.
PHOTO EFREM LUKATSKY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
In the evening, rescue operations were still in progress.
“A war crime” in the middle of the G7 summit
The leaders of the G7, meeting since Sunday at a summit in southern Germany, condemned “the abominable attack” and assured that Vladimir Putin will be “accountable”. “Indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” they said.
According to experts, this attack in the middle of the G7 summit is no coincidence. “It shows that Russia is not ready to negotiate peace. She is committed to continuing the war,” says Maria Popova, professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University.
Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine, had a population of around 220,000 before the war and had so far been spared from bombardment.
This city is obviously not important from a strategic point of view. Rather, it is an attempt by Russia to signal to Ukrainians that they are not safe anywhere, even in the center of the country.
Maria Popova, Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University
“When you have a civilian target like that which is absolutely far from the front and from any military infrastructure, the objective is terror. It is to break the Ukrainian resistance,” adds Mr. Arel.
This is not the first time that Russian strikes have claimed a large number of civilian victims. In March, a theater in Mariupol was the target of an attack by Moscow killing around 600 people. In April, a strike on a train station in eastern Kramatorsk killed at least 59 people.
PHOTO REUTERS
Kremenchuk shopping center
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly strongly denounced the attack, saying Russian forces would not go unpunished. For his part, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, called the attack “cruel” and pledged to continue his defense of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the G7 leaders pledged to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” and discussed the idea of setting a price ceiling for Russian oil exports, in order to reduce funds available to President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.
Eight dead in Lysychansk
In the east of the country, at least 8 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 21 others were injured in a Russian bombardment on Monday while collecting water in Lyssychansk, the regional governor announced.
PHOTO BAGUS SARAGIH, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Ukrainian soldiers in a tank heading for Lysychansk on Sunday
“The Russians fired into a crowd of people with Ouragan multiple rocket launchers as civilians collected water from a cistern. Eight residents of Lysychansk died, 21 were taken to hospital,” Sergey Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, wrote on Telegram.
It is the last remaining major city for the Russians to conquer in the Luhansk region, one of the two provinces of the Donbass industrial basin. Gaidai had reported last week that the fighting was causing “catastrophic destruction” in Lysychansk, which had a population of around 100,000 before the war.
With Agence France-Presse and The Canadian Press
What you need to know today
- Ukraine’s president said the attack in Kremenchuk was “brazen” and “calculated”.
- G7 leaders have pledged to support Ukraine “as long as necessary” and are considering capping the price of Russian oil.
- At least 8 civilians were also killed while collecting water in Lysytchansk.
- At least 1 other civilian died in strikes against residential buildings in Sloviansk.