A Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, has killed at least 16 people and wounded 59, the head of emergency services said earlier on Tuesday, sparking international outrage.
Some 1,000 civilians were estimated to be inside the busy centre at the time of the attack at around 15:50 (12:50 GMT), President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The G7 and United Nations have both condemned the attacks that deliberately targeted civilian casualties.
#G7 Leaders Statement: We solemnly condemn the abominable attack on a shopping mall in #Kremenchuk. We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war on Ukraine. #G7GER pic.twitter.com/t4x9EJqzCv
— G7 GER (@G7) June 27, 2022
Sergiy Kruk, the chief emergency service offer said the main task was to rescue the affected, waste remove, and elimination fires “As of now, we know of 16 dead and 59 wounded, 25 of them hospitalized. The information is being updated,” Kruk said on Twitter.
“All response groups are working in intense mode,” he said. “The work will go on around the clock.” And no alert should be ignored” he added.
The leaders of the G7 group of richest nations – who are meeting in Germany – condemned the attack as “abominable”.
“Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime,” they said in a joint statement.
Russia has been blamed for the attack, and there are fears the death toll will continue to rise. In addition to strongly condemning the attack, a joint statement issued by the Western leaders vowed to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression.
“We shall continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes,” they said.
Pictures online showed the building engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
The local governor Dmytro Lunin also tweeted saying that the attack was another war crime against the Russians.
“A crime against humanity. This is an obvious and cynical act of terror against the civilian population,” the local governor Dmytro Lunin wrote on Twitter, also calling it a ‘war crime’,” Lunin said.
