(KRYVYI RIH, DNIPROPETROVSK OBLAST) – At least five people were killed and 91 others wounded in a Russian strike on a shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday afternoon. Local officials confirmed that six children were among the injured.
The attack caused significant damage and ignited large fires within the complex, prompting a major emergency response. Authorities later reported a second strike on the same location, this time involving a jet powered Shahed drone. Rescue operations are ongoing, and officials have warned that casualty figures could still rise as additional drones were observed flying at extremely low altitudes.
The strike on Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was part of a wider wave of Russian attacks across Ukraine. In the northern Sumy region, eight people were injured in strikes that caused massive fires in residential buildings. In the eastern Donetsk region, at least nine aerial bombs were dropped on the city of Kramatorsk on Thursday afternoon, trapping residents under rubble. A drone strike in the southern Odesa region damaged a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, forcing its closure. These attacks followed a massive missile and drone barrage against Kyiv early Thursday which killed at least 17 people.
Ukraine has continued to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. An oil refinery located approximately 1,500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border came under fire overnight into Friday. The facility, operated by Lukoil in the Russian city of Perm, is one of the largest in Russia with an annual processing capacity of over 13 million tons of crude. Ukrainian officials confirmed a separate overnight strike against an airfield in Russia’s Volgograd region, some 330 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
In a bid to enhance its long-range strike capabilities, Ukraine is seeking permission to use Starlink equipped drones to target Russian ballistic missile launchers up to 200 kilometres inside Russia. According to a report in the Financial Times, President Zelenskyy raised the proposal during a meeting with US President Donald Trump in July, hoping the US leader could secure Elon Musk’s approval. Musk has previously restricted Starlink use for strikes beyond Ukrainian territory, citing escalation concerns.
In an interview with TVP World, Yulia Sirko, a Ukrainian MP from the Voice Party, stated that Ukraine requires both increased supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles and the development of new domestic counter-drone systems. She noted that acquiring anti-ballistic missiles is becoming difficult due to competition on the international arms market. Sirko also suggested that the decentralisation of energy, water, and sewage systems into smaller, distributed units is a key part of the country’s strategy to withstand anticipated winter attacks on infrastructure.
Footage of the strike was released by the press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
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