Russian drones set shopping mall ablaze in Kryvyi Rih, then strike rescue crews half an hour later
A Russian drone attack on the Sonyachna Halereya shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih killed 15 people and wounded 130, many of them children. A second strike hit rescuers already working at the scene.
The Russian military struck the largest shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defense council. Social media footage points to Sonyachna Halereya ("Sunny Gallery") as the target, where a major fire broke out following the strike.
According to the latest figures from Ukrainian authorities, 15 people were killed and 130 wounded in the attack. These numbers may still change as search-and-rescue operations continue. Of the wounded, 29 people — including five children — are in serious condition, and 23 of those injured overall are children.
Two waves of strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described attacks of this kind as acts of terrorism. He said the drones hit the mall in two separate waves: a second strike hit the rescue crews roughly half an hour after the initial hit sparked the fire.
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said Russia deliberately targets places where civilians gather. He noted that people had come to the mall to shop, work, or spend time with loved ones, adding that the Russian military continues to demonstrate that it views civilians as a deliberate target in this war.
Russian claims and prior strikes
Russian "war correspondent" Yury Kotenok claimed that warehouses at Sonyachna Halereya had been used to benefit Ukraine's armed forces. Russia's Defense Ministry has previously used similar reasoning to justify strikes on privately owned Ukrainian businesses, while Ukraine has cited comparable justification for strikes on warehouses belonging to the Russian marketplace Wildberries.
The previous major attack on Kryvyi Rih took place on August 16, when missiles and drones struck the city's industrial facilities, killing two people and wounding 14. That strike also reportedly damaged Ukraine's largest mining and metallurgical plant, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.
