[UPDATED: Aug. 21, 6:01 pm
, Kyiv time. Updated casualty figures]
Russia struck the largest shopping mall in central Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih with multiple drones on Friday afternoon, killing at least two and injuring at least 52. Local media channels shared photos and footage of the attack, suggesting the Solnechnaya Galereya mall in the city was struck by multiple drones.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Videos circulating online show bloodied civilians being carried off from the scene of the attack.
Medics were seen attending to those injured by the attack.
Oleksandr Vikul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council, confirmed the attack at 4:39 p.m. and said “many people are visually injured.” Vikul later said the mall was repeatedly attacked by jet-powered Shahed drones “flying at extremely low altitudes” and cautioned about potential follow-up strikes. Oleksandr Hanzha, the head of the region’s military administration, said at 5:11 p.m. that two were confirmed dead while 15 were confirmed injured before adding that casualty numbers are likely to increase. Hanzha later said at 5:40 p.m. that 50 have been confirmed injured, while an update by the Prosecutor General’s Office says it has risen to 52, including six children. Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, which has been one of the many cities targeted by Russian strikes during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. On Aug. 16, a Russian attack on ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s largest foreign-invested steelmaker, killed two workers and forced a partial shutdown of production.
