At least 16 killed in Russian missile strike on Ukranian shopping mall

(Update 3: updates casualties in pars 1-3)

Kyiv, Jun 28 (EFE).- A Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk has killed at least 16 people, an emergency services official said early Tuesday.

“As of now, we know of 16 dead and 59 wounded, 25 of them hospitalized. The information is being updated,” emergency services chief Sergiy Kruk said.

Kruk said the rescue work, debris removal and extinguishing of fires were ongoing after Monday’s attack.

It is expected that the number of dead and injured from the shelling will rise.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that there were over 1,000 civilians inside the building when it was struck.

Images from the strike in the city Kremenchuk appeared to show a large fire had engulfed the building, which Zelenskyy said posed no threat to Russia and held “no strategic value.”

“The mall is on fire, firefighters are trying to extinguish the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine,” he said.

“Out of helplessness, Russia continues to hit ordinary people. It is vain to expect it to be reasonable or humane,” he added.

The city’s mayor Vitaliy Meletskiy said the mall was “very crowded.”

The UN Security Council will meet Tuesday to address the situation in Ukraine after the latest military attacks by Russia. EFE

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