Russia double-tap strike on shopping center in Kryvyi Rih kills at least 6, injures more than 90
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Editor's note: This story is being updated.
Russian forces launched a daytime drone strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, on August 21, killing at least six people and injuring more than 90 others, including six children, local authorities said.
Twenty-one of the injured were in serious condition, including one child, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drones struck in two waves, with the second strike taking place around half an hour after the first when rescue services were already responding at the scene.
"An absolutely cynical and vile strike was carried out by the Russians against an ordinary shopping center in Kryvyi Rih," Zelensky said.
Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Russia was deliberately striking places where civilians gather in broad daylight.
"People came to the shopping center for their ordinary business: to shop, to work, or to spend time with loved ones. For Russia, this makes no difference," Lubinets said.
"The Russian army once again proves that civilians are a deliberate target for it in this war against Ukraine," he added.
The attacks took place at around 4:30 p.m., according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office.
The strikes hit what Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's Defense Council, described as the city's largest shopping complex.
An emergency rescue operation was launched at the scene, as authorities warned that the casualty toll could rise.
Vilkul later said the second strike was carried out by a jet-powered Shahed-type drone, adding that the drones were flying at extremely low altitudes. He warned that further strikes were possible.
The full extent of the casualties and damage is still being assessed.
The Kryvyi Rih strike came after Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least six people and injured at least 77 others over the previous day, according to local authorities.
Kryvyi Rih has frequently suffered deadly Russian attacks during the full-scale invasion. On April 4, 2025, a Russian ballistic missile struck an area near apartment buildings and a children's playground in the city, killing 19 people, including nine children, and injuring 75 others.
