Russian double-tap drone strikes kill 14 in Ukrainian mall, officials say

What the report says

BBC World News reports that at least 14 people were killed and 121 others injured after Russian drones struck a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, according to local and regional officials. The injured included 22 children, and rescuers said some people may still be trapped in the rubble. Officials described the mall as the city’s largest shopping centre.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack happened in two waves, with the second strike reportedly hitting emergency workers who were already responding to the first explosion. The BBC says verified footage showed the second drone hitting the burning building in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia’s military had not commented on the attack in the article.

Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said the casualty figures were still being updated and that several of the injured were in serious condition. Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said drones were flying at very low altitude and that some people were still missing. Rescue teams from other Ukrainian regions were being sent to help with the search.

The strike came a day after a major Russian attack on Kyiv killed 17 people, according to Ukrainian officials. More broadly, the article places the incident in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.