Death toll at Ukraine shopping mall hit by Russian missiles climbs to 18

The death toll in a rocket attack on a Ukrainian shopping centre by Russian forces has risen to 18.

Emergency services in Ukraine said on Tuesday that 18 people had died in the attack on a mall in the central city of Kremenchuk, while another 59 were injured and 25 hospitalised. Another 36 people are thought to be missing.

According to those clearing rubble at the site, 60 per cent of the mall was destroyed by the strike with over 400 workers assisting in the effort.

Social media footage showed a huge fire and dark smoke billowing from the mall following the attack on Monday afternoon. Firefighters and soldiers were seen pulling out mangled pieces of metal as they searched for survivors.

Condemenation of the deadly strike was swift.

Ukraine’s President Zelensky said the attack showed it was impossible to “expect decency and humanity” from Moscow. An adviser to the president, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Russia hit the shopping centre “just because it wants to kill”, and called it “a terrorist state”.

The UN described the attack as “deplorable”, while US President Joe Biden called it cruel. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it “appalling”, adding that it demonstrated “once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink”.