Planned terrorist assault: Ukraine Prez Zelenskyy on Russian missile strike at mall

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday mentioned the Russian missile strike that killed a minimum of 16 folks and wounded 59 was “one of the most daring terrorist acts in European history” and mentioned it was a deliberate strike. A Russian missile struck a crowded mall within the central Ukrainian metropolis of Kremenchuk on Monday.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned {that a} strike on a mall in #Kremenchuk was deliberate and “one of the most daring terrorist acts in European history.”

“Peaceful city, ordinary mall, women inside, children, civilians. This was not a mistaken hit. This was a planned Russian strike.” pic.twitter.com/Vnze8pBYbZ

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 27, 2022

Emergency companies chief Sergiy Kruk mentioned the primary duties had been “rescue work, debris removal and the elimination of fires” following Monday’s strike on the procuring centre.

“As of now, we know of 16 dead and 59 wounded, 25 of them hospitalised. The information is being updated,” Kruk mentioned on Telegram.

At the second, as the results of at present’s shelling of a shopping mall in #Kremenchuk, it’s identified about 16 lifeless and 59 injured, of which 25 folks had been hospitalized.

City Emergency Service pic.twitter.com/7MIeHZJ6Xh

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 27, 2022

“All response groups are working in intense mode,” he mentioned. “The work will go on around the clock.”

“I would like to stress once again: do not neglect air alerts!”

Earlier, Zelensky had mentioned “over a thousand civilians” had been within the mall when the missiles struck town, which had a pre-war inhabitants of 220,000 folks.

“The mall is on fire, rescuers are fighting the fire. The number of victims is impossible to imagine,” Zelensky wrote on Facebook.

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A video he shared confirmed the mall engulfed in flames, with dozens of rescuers and a fireplace truck exterior.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed a video of a fireplace in a shopping mall in Kremenchug

“The occupiers launched a missile strike at shopping center. There were more than a thousand civilians. The mall is on fire, rescuers are extinguishing fire, number of victims is unimaginable.” pic.twitter.com/Src2qh3Tdf

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 27, 2022

Emergency companies additionally revealed photographs displaying firefighters and rescuers attempting to clear particles from the smouldering stays of the constructing.

The Ukrainian defence ministry mentioned the strike was intentionally timed to coincide with the mall’s busiest hours and trigger the utmost variety of casualties.

Growing worldwide outrage

The Ukrainian air drive mentioned the mall was hit by Kh-22 anti-ship missiles fired from Tu-22 bombers in western Russia’s Kursk area.

“The missile fire on Kremenchuk struck a very busy area which had no link to the hostilities,” town’s mayor Vitali Maletsky wrote on Facebook.

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Dmytro Lunin, the governor of Poltava area the place Kremenchuk is situated, denounced the assault as a “war crime” and a “crime against humanity”, saying it was a “cynical act of terror against the civilian population”.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba known as on Kyiv’s allies to provide extra heavy weapons and impose recent sanctions on Russia.

“Russia is a disgrace to humanity and it must face consequences,” he wrote on Twitter.

Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak accused Russia of being a “terrorist state”.

There was additionally rising worldwide outrage on the assault.

A press release from the G7 leaders gathered for a summit in Germany condemned the missile strike as a “war crime”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned on Twitter that “the world is horrified by Russia’s missile strike today, which hit a crowded Ukrainian shopping mall — the latest in a string of atrocities”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the assault demonstrated the “depths of cruelty and barbarism” of Russian chief Vladimir Putin.

“Russia’s bombing of a shopping centre in Kremenchuk is an abomination,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter in English.

“We share the pain of the victims’ families, and the anger in the face of such an atrocity. The Russian people have to see the truth.”

Below the tweet, video footage of the blazing procuring centre, black smoke pouring from it, was posted.

(With inputs from AFP)