Russian forces launched a daytime drone strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Aug. 21, killing at least 14 people and injuring 121 others, including 22 children, local authorities said,
The Kyiv Independent reports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drones struck in two waves, with the second strike taking place around half an hour after the first, when rescue services were already responding at the scene.
"An absolutely cynical and vile strike was carried out by the Russians against an ordinary shopping center in Kryvyi Rih," Zelensky said.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's Defense Council, said the second strike was carried out by a jet-powered Shahed-type drone, adding that the drones were flying at extremely low altitudes.
The Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported that 14 people were killed. Vilkul said 121 people were injured, 29 of the which were in serious condition, including five children.
"There are people who have gone missing and cannot be contacted," Vilkul said.
"Bloody damn Russian bastards," Vilkul added.
Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Russia was deliberately striking places where civilians gather in broad daylight.
"People came to the shopping center for their ordinary business: to shop, to work, or to spend time with loved ones. For Russia, this makes no difference," Lubinets said.
"The Russian army once again proves that civilians are a deliberate target for it in this war against Ukraine," he added.
