At least five people were killed and 67 others injured after a Russian drone struck a shopping centre in Pavlohrad, Ukrainian officials say.
The daylight attack hit shops and vehicles in the Dnipropetrovsk region city while the area was crowded with people. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said the strike happened “when the streets were full of people.”
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said eight of the injured were children. Images released by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed firefighters battling burning vehicles as thick smoke filled the street.
President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to the families of those killed. He also accused Russia of using drones to target civilians near shopping centres.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the attack as a “tactic of coercion”. He said Russia was attempting to exhaust Ukrainians through continued attacks on civilians. The strike came after several other attacks on shopping centres in Ukraine this week. Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone strike on a mall in Sumy on Wednesday killed two people and injured 20.
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Russian aerial bombing reportedly injured another eight people in Sumy on Thursday, including three children. In Zaporizhzhia, a shopping mall was almost completely destroyed on Monday, according to its owners. The building was closed at the time, and no casualties were immediately reported.
Pavlohrad, a major logistics hub near Dnipro, has also faced previous Russian attacks. Two people were killed in a strike on warehouses there last month.
The latest attack comes as the Russia-Ukraine war continues, more than four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
