Five dead and dozens wounded in Russian strike on largest Kryvyi Rih shopping mall

The attacks struck the shopping center at around 4:30 p.m., Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Stores inside the complex caught fire following the strikes, while emergency crews launched a search-and-rescue operation.

Kryvyi Rih Defense Council head Oleksandr Vilkul said the shopping complex came under a repeat attack involving a jet-powered Shahed drone and warned at the time that further strikes were possible.

“There is a fire and, visually, many casualties,” Vilkul said shortly after the attack. “The emergency rescue operation has begun.”

The number of casualties rose rapidly as emergency crews worked at the scene.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast authorities later reported that five people had been killed and 52 others injured, including six children.

Vilkul said 20 seriously wounded people had been taken into surgery.

Medical teams were providing assistance to all those injured, regional authorities said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal investigation into an alleged Russian war crime under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.