At least 15 people were killed and 130 injured after Russian drones struck a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, on Friday, August 21, according to local authorities. The attack also wounded at least 23 children.
Double-tap strike described as terrorist act
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose hometown is Kryvyi Rih, described the assault as a double-tap strike: an initial wave of drones hit the area, followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded. In a social media post, he wrote: "Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts." He warned that Ukraine would respond to the attack.
Oleksandr Hanzha, who heads the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, confirmed the death toll and the number of injured. Kryvyi Rih has been struck multiple times since the war began more than four years ago.
Further attacks across Ukraine
Earlier on Friday, a Russian drone attack on Ukraine's Kharkiv region killed two women, aged 73 and 66, and wounded two others, said regional head Oleh Syniehubov. Another Russian attack on Friday evening killed four people, including three children, in Ukraine's southern Mykolaiv region, emergency services said.
Large-scale Russian strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer. The United Nations said last week that the capital Kyiv was one of the hardest hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.
Recent escalation in attacks
Friday's attacks came just 24 hours after Russia pounded Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a night-time aerial attack that killed 16 people. Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, while nine were killed in the city two days before that.
