Double drone attack on Kryvyi Rih mall kills 14, wounds over 120
Two Russian drone strikes hit a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Friday, killing at least 14 people and injuring more than 120, including 22 children. Ukrainian officials said the second drone struck about 30 minutes after the first, which President Zelensky called a deliberate attempt to target emergency responders. The attack occurred in Zelensky's hometown, adding to a series of recent Russian aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities.
The death toll from Friday's Kryvyi Rih attack rose to 15 as rescue operations continued, with 130 wounded including 23 children. The strike occurred roughly 60 kilometers from the front line in an industrial city that has faced repeated Russian bombardment throughout the conflict. Interior Minister Ivan Vygivsky separately reported four additional fatalities, three of them minors, from a strike in the southern Mykolaiv region.
The assault followed Thursday's Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv that killed 17 people, reflecting an intensified aerial campaign as the war nears its 4½-year mark. Ukraine has responded with long-range drone operations, including strikes on a Lukoil oil refinery in Perm, over 1,600 kilometers from the border, and the Marinovka military airfield in Volgograd region. A Ukrainian drone also killed one person and wounded four in Russia's Belgorod region.
This double-tap tactic could deepen civilian trauma and erode trust in emergency response safety, as rescuers become secondary targets. The attack on Zelensky's hometown may carry symbolic weight, potentially hardening Ukrainian resolve while increasing pressure on Western allies for stronger air defenses. The reciprocal long-range strikes suggest an escalating cycle that could expand the conflict's geographic scope, affecting civilian populations in both countries and straining regional stability.