One of the most audacious terrorist assaults in European history, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, took place on Monday when Russian long-range bombers fired a missile at a busy mall in the city of Ukraine in Kremenchuk.
Most of the more than 1,000 customers and employees who were inside the mall, according to Zelenskky, were able to flee.
Emergency personnel rushed to the scene to scour the cement and shattered metal for casualties and extinguish fires as enormous plumes of black smoke, dirt, and red flames rose from the ruins. People looked in horror as they saw how a routine activity like shopping might turn into a nightmare.
Rescue workers continued to explore the burning rubble into early Tuesday, altering the casualty numbers. Emergency personnel in Ukraine announced late Monday that at least 16 people had died and about 60 had been injured.
As one soldier hammered into what was left of the shopping center’s roof, soldiers labored through the night to move sheets of twisted metal and broken concrete. After the fire was put out, clouds of dark smoke could still be seen rising from the remains as drones buzzed overhead.
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According to Volodymyr Hychkan, a representative of emergency services, “we are working to destroy the structure so that it is able to get equipment in there because the metal elements are very large and big, and dismantling them by a person is impossible.”
The U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session in New York on Tuesday to address the incident at Ukraine’s request.
Dmitry Polyansky, the country’s first deputy permanent spokesperson to the UN, made the first official statement from the Russian government regarding the missile attack on Ukraine. He claimed multiple inconsistencies, which he did not indicate, and asserted on Twitter that the event was motivated by Ukraine.
Despite the fact that Russian attacks have also targeted other malls, theatres, hospitals, preschools, and apartment complexes, Russia has consistently denied targeting civilian facilities in Ukraine.
The walkout took place as the heads of the biggest economies of the world prepared to impose more sanctions against Russia, such as a cap on oil prices and greater taxes on commodities. NATO intended to roughly eightfold the number of its rapid-response forces to 300,000 troops as the U.S. prepared to unveil the acquisition of an upgraded surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv.
The target, according to Zelenskyy, “poses no threat to the Russian army” and “has no strategic value.” In his words, “people’s efforts to lead a normal life, which make the invaders so angry, are being sabotaged by Russia.”
Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, according to the Ukrainian military, fired a missile at the mall from the airspace over western Russia’s Kursk area.
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Oleksiy Danilov, the chairman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, claimed that two missiles impacted a sports arena in Kremenchuk and a shopping complex, respectively.
The Russian strike echoed earlier threats in the conflict that killed a significant number of civilian casualties in Ukraine, including one in March on a theatre in Mariupol where so many civilians had camped out and killed an estimated 600 people, and another in April on a railway station in eastern Kramatorsk that killed at least 59 people.
“Russians continue to suffer the effects of their powerlessness. It is pointless to wish for compassion and morality on its part “said Zelenskyy.
The incident “struck a very crowded place, which is 100% certain to have no connections to the military services,” mayor Vitaliy Maletskiy posted on Facebook.
Russian forces launched an all-out attack on the final Ukrainian bastion in the Luhansk province of eastern Ukraine at the time of the invasion, “pouring fire” on the city of Lysychansk from the ground and the air, as per the local governor.
Following the recent expulsion of government forces from the nearby city of Sievierodonetsk, Russian soldiers looked to intensify an assault aimed at attempting to seize control of the eastern Donbas area from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, representatives of the West vowed to continue to back Kyiv unwaveringly. When NATO’s leaders meet for a summit in Spain, they will decide to provide more military assistance to Ukraine, including safe communications and anti-drone equipment, according to Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the military alliance.
The governor of Sloviansk, a city to the west of Lysychansk and possibly the scene of the next significant fight, reported on Monday that Russian forces had launched cluster munitions on the city after dawn, one of which had struck a residential area of Ukraine.
Authorities stated that it was yet unknown how many people had died and been injured. One death was observed by the Associated Press: a man’s body was found bent over a car door frame, with bleeding from his chest and head wounds pooled on the floor.
Most of the windows in the nearby apartment buildings and the automobiles parked below were blown out by the explosion, leaving a trail of broken glass on the ground.
“Now everything is ruined. The only residents in this wing of the building are still us. Power is nonexistent “Valentina Vitkovska, a neighbor, described the explosion while sobbing. I’m unable to phone anyone to let them know what has happened to us.
Zelenskyy’s office reported that in the course of intense Russian having to shell against numerous Ukrainian cities over the past 24 hours, such as Kyiv and large cities in the nation’s south and east, at least six civilians had been killed and another 31 were injured. However, this does not include the strike in Kremenchuk and the shelling of the eastern city of Kharkiv, where at least 3 persons were slaughtered and another 15 were injured.
According to the report, Russian forces continued to attack Odesa, a vital southern port, while also launching missiles tonight in and around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing two people and injuring five more. According to the report, a missile attack damaged six persons, including a toddler, and damaged apartment areas.
The very last road bridge and at least five tall places in Lysychansk were damaged on the last day, according to the regional governor. Shelling made impassable a key roadway that connected the city to the government-held territory to the south.
Around one-tenth of the city’s 100,000 pre-war residents still live there.
According to analysts, the Ukrainian defenders of Lysychansk have a significant advantage due to the city’s elevated position on the Siverskiy Donets River.
“It’s really tough to get a handle on. The Russians may attack Lysychansk for months and with great effort “said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst.
Other developments include the Group of Seven countries’ leaders announcing preparations to pursue fresh penalties and promising to continue supporting Ukraine.
Following their video conference with Zelenskyy on Monday, the leaders reaffirmed their “unfaltering support and commitment to the people and government of Ukraine in their valiant defense of their country’s sovereignty and national integrity” in a joint statement.
After Russian forces launched long-range missiles at Kyiv on Sunday, Zelenskyy demanded more air defense systems, and the U.S. appeared prepared to provide them. The procurement of an upgraded surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine was anticipated to be announced by Washington.
As part of the group’s reaction to a “period of strategic rivalry,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg revealed plans to be available on board the group’s quick forces in Brussels. There are now roughly 40,000 soldiers in the NATO requirements.
In the upcoming weeks of the conflict, the military ministry of Britain predicted that Russia would depend more and more on reserve forces.
A call-up of Russian reservists, according to analysts, could significantly change the war’s dynamic but also have political consequences for President Vladimir Putin’s administration.
Senior members of the Biden government have verified to CBS News that the White House intends to make an announcement this week on Ukraine’s acquisition of a sophisticated medium- to long-range surface-to-air missile defense system.
As it works to satisfy the urgent demands pouring from the leaders of Ukraine, Washington is anticipated to offer additional artillery shells and radars, according to CBS News correspondent Ed O’Keefe.
At their meeting on Monday in Germany, Mr. Biden and the other G-7 leaders were certain to hear a new plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who’d been scheduled to digitally speak to them from Kyiv. In a daily video address on Sunday night, he informed his own nation that Ukraine urgently required military, monetary, and humanitarian support to counter Russia’s assault.
Ramy Inocencio, a CBS News correspondent in Kyiv, tells that early on Sunday, Russia launched a barrage of long-range missiles toward Kyiv, shattering weeks of largely peaceful conditions there. As the Western leaders convened in Germany to bolster their military and economic support for Ukraine, the Kremlin appeared to be making a forceful statement.
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