Russian Strikes Claim Six Lives Across Ukraine Following Devastating Shopping Complex Attack

Ukrainian firefighters work at the site of a shopping mall damaged in a Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih amid the Russian war on Ukraine [AFP]

Russian aerial strikes across Ukraine have resulted in the deaths of at least six people and left 26 others injured, while a Ukrainian drone strike targeted a house in southern Russia, causing the deaths of two children and injuring their parents, according to officials from both sides.

In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed on Saturday morning that one person died in a warehouse fire in the Darnytskyi district following an overnight Russian ballistic missile attack.

The regional military administration reported that three people were killed and 13 others wounded in the Kherson region after Russian strikes damaged residential homes and apartment buildings.

According to regional governor Vadym Filashkin and local media reports, Russian attacks in the Donetsk region left one person dead and seven wounded, which included five individuals in the front-line city of Kramatorsk.

Regional officials stated that a drone strike in the Sumy region hit a house and killed one man, while six additional people sustained injuries in separate drone attacks across the area. In the city of Kherson itself, another drone strike ignited a shopping centre, though no casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, authorities in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region reported that a Ukrainian drone strike killed two children and wounded two adults.

These latest attacks occurred concurrently with ongoing rescue operations in Kryvyi Rih—the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—where emergency personnel searched the charred remains of the Sunny Gallery shopping complex following the assault on Friday afternoon.

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council, stated that Russian forces utilized jet-powered Shahed drones to target the city's largest shopping centre. A second wave of strikes hit approximately 30 minutes after the initial impact on Friday, allegedly targeting emergency crews who were responding to the scene.

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha provided an update on Saturday morning confirming that the death toll in Kryvyi Rih had risen to 16, with more than 130 people wounded, including 22 children.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Friday's assault as "absolutely cynical and despicable" and an "act of barbarism," while pledging a swift response. In a Telegram post, he stated, "Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts."

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Audrey MacAlpine noted that Friday's attack commenced "at 4:30 in the afternoon when the mall is typically crowded," with a subsequent wave occurring "just 30 minutes later, with rescue workers from nearby regions called in to help."

She added, "The attacks come as civilian casualties in the war continue to mount, with July marking one of the deadliest months for civilians on both sides since the full-scale war began. And they are another example of how attacks far beyond the front lines are taking their toll on ordinary people.">