A Russian daytime missile and drone attack on a shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has killed at least ten people and wounded 121 others, including 22 children, according to local authorities. The strike, which hit on Friday afternoon, set shops ablaze and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue victims from the rubble.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said the number of casualties from the "enemy attack on Kryvyi Rih" was still growing. He confirmed that the mall's interior was on fire and that rescue operations were ongoing.
A cynical strike on a civilian target
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack on social media as "cynical and despicable," noting that it hit "an ordinary shopping center." He described a two-wave assault: the first strike caused a fire, and roughly half an hour later a second drone hit the same site, targeting emergency services as they worked. Zelenskyy called on the international community to respond "accordingly - with real pressure on the aggressor."
Unverified videos circulating online show wounded civilians receiving first aid, while other clips appear to capture a second drone slamming into the already smoking building. The attack on a busy civilian area also injured at least six children, according to regional officials.
Kryvyi Rih, an industrial hub about 60 kilometres from the front line, has been a frequent target of Russian strikes since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Friday's attack is among the deadliest on the city in recent months.
Broader pattern of intensifying strikes
The mall attack came as Russia stepped up its aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities. On the same day, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported one person killed in a drone strike on the community of Bereza in the Sumy region. On Thursday, a Russian strike on a shopping centre in Kramatorsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, killed two people.
According to the United Nations, the civilian death toll in Ukraine has reached its highest level since the early months of the war, as Moscow increasingly targets urban areas far from the front line. The UN aid chief has warned that Russian drones are crippling humanitarian work across the country.
Overnight and early morning attacks on Friday killed at least five more people. In the Zaporizhzhia region, a 46-year-old woman died after a Russian guided aerial bomb struck her house in the village of Komyshuvakha, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration. In the Kharkiv region, four people were killed, including two women aged 73 and 66, in the frontline village of Lebiazhe after drones sparked fires in residential areas, said Oleh Syniehubov, the regional governor.
Moscow launched a total of 135 drones overnight, striking 16 locations, with Ukrainian forces reporting that 107 were shot down. The attacks have also raised concerns beyond Ukraine's borders: NATO has scrambled jets after Russian drones crashed in Romania, and Finland is investigating a suspected airspace violation near its border. The Kremlin's tactics are increasingly testing the alliance's eastern flank.
As the war enters its fourth year, the human cost continues to mount. Friday's strike on Kryvyi Rih is a stark reminder that Russian forces show no sign of sparing civilian infrastructure, even in cities far from the front lines. The international community, as Zelenskyy urged, faces growing pressure to respond with more than condemnation.
