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In less than 24 hours, Russia hits 4 hypermarkets belonging to one of Ukraine's largest retail chains

• 2 min read
In less than 24 hours, Russia hits 4 hypermarkets belonging to one of Ukraine's largest retail chains
The aftermath of a Russian attack on an Epicentr hypermarket in Poltava, Ukraine, on Oct. 25, 2026. (Ukraine's Emergency Service)

Russian attacks hit four Epicentr hypermarkets in less than 24 hours, the company said on Oct. 25.

The latest wave of strikes highlights Russia's campaign of terror against civilians, with stores, shopping centers, and other civilian infrastructure among the targets. Epicentr, one of Ukraine's largest home improvement and retail chains, has been particularly hard hit.

In a post on Facebook, the company said Russian attacks damaged or destroyed facilities in the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Poltava on Oct. 24-25, and described the attacks as amounting to "total destruction of the network."

The company did not specify the extent of the damage or when the affected facilities might reopen.

The Poltava Oblast Military Administration said a 52-year-old woman was injured in an attack on a hypermarket on Oct. 25. Authorities in other regions did not report any civilian casualties from attacks on Epicentr stores during the same period.

Founded in 2003, Epicentr operated 72 hypermarkets across Ukraine before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Since the start of the all-out war, ten of the company's shopping centers have been completely destroyed and another 13 have been damaged, Epicentr told the Ukrainian outlet Ekonomichna Pravda in August 2026.

Epicentr's head of public relations, Yuliia Chudnovets, said on Oct. 22 that Russian forces had struck five company sites, including one in Kyiv, in the previous 48 hours.

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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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