At least 16 people were killed and 130 others were injured in a Russian strike on a shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday afternoon, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said overnight that 63 of those injured in the attack remained in hospital, with 29 in a critical condition.
In an update on Saturday morning, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that nine people are also missing following the attack. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the drone strikes on his hometown as “deliberate and despicable.”
“It is important that we have everything to protect life. It is important that the world does not remain silent about all this,” he added in a post on X.
Unverified videos circulating on social media show victims with bleeding wounds receiving help from rescuers.
The industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, which is located roughly 60 kilometres from the frontline, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks since Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has increased the number of attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months, and according to the UN, the civilian death toll has reached its highest level for civilians since the first months of the war.
On Thursday, a Russian strike on a shopping centre on the Eastern town of Kramatorsk also killed two people.
Moscow launched 135 drones overnight on Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russian overnight and early morning attacks killed at least five people.
A 46-year-old woman from the village of Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, was killed after “A Russian guided aerial bomb struck” her house, Ivan Fedorov, Head of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, said on Telegram.
Further north, four people were killed, including two women aged 73 and 66, in the frontline village of Lebiazhe in the Kharkiv region after Russian drones attacked the village and sparked fires in residential areas, according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.
Moscow launched a total of 135 drones overnight on Ukraine, striking 16 locations, 107 which were downed according to Ukraine’s Armed forces.
Ukraine strike logistics and command post
On the other hand, Ukraine reported to have hit drone storage sites, logistics warehouses, command posts and communication facilities belonging to Russian forces, situated in the temporarily occupied regions of Donetsk and Crimea.