Sybiha urges stronger sanctions against Russia’s military industry after Kryvyi Rih attack

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha has called on the international community to immediately tighten sanctions against Russia’s military-industrial complex and to supply Ukraine with additional air defence systems. The appeal was made after Russian forces struck a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, leaving 16 people dead.

In a post on X, Sybiha said the attack was deliberate and that Russia had targeted an ordinary shopping centre before carrying out a second strike as emergency workers arrived at the scene. He described the repeat attack as a barbaric tactic intended to maximise the number of civilian victims. According to the minister, such actions confirm Russia’s status as a terrorist state.

Sybiha stressed that those responsible for war crimes must inevitably face justice. “We urge the world to act,” he wrote. “Every such war crime has to result in stronger sanctions, in particular against Russia’s military-industrial complex and its accomplices, as well as in increased defence support for Ukraine.”

The minister also argued that Russia must be stripped of both the ability to produce instruments of terror and the ability to use them. “Sanctions and interceptors are two tools that save lives. We need both without delay,” he emphasised.

Earlier reports said that on August 21, Russian troops twice attacked the shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih with drones. The strikes killed 16 people and injured 130 others, including 23 children.