Horror as Russians hit packed shopping centre
» At least 13 killed at shops » Russia jets target families
AT least 13 people were killed yesterday after a Russian missile hit a packed shopping centre in Ukraine.
More than 1,000 people were thought to be inside when the blast sparked a blaze that ripped through the Amstor Mall in Kremenchuk.
Flames spread across an area larger than a football pitch amid growing fears of mass casualties.
As many as 115 emergency workers battled to rescue survivors, with screams heard from the smouldering rubble.
At least 50 people were wounded and President Volodomyr Zelensky warned the death toll was likely to rise well above the 13 recorded so far.
He said: “It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims.”
The Ukrainian Air Force said it believed the mall was hit by Kh-22 missiles fired from supersonic Tu-22 M3 bombers, which flew from Shaikovka in Russia.
The heavy five-ton missiles are usually anti-ship weapons.
Mr Zelensky said the target presented no threat to Russia.
HELLISH
He accused the Kremlin of sabotaging “people’s attempts to live a normal life”.
At the scene, Ukrainian government official Anton Gerashchenko said: “Rescuers are trying to get survivors from under the rubble of the collapsed roof.
“Intensive work is under way to save children, women and the elderly. Those who just came to buy food and fell under the hellish execution of war criminal Putin.”
Kremenchuk is the site of Ukraine’s biggest oil refinery.
Last night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson slammed the blast.
Speaking from the G7 summit, he said: “This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink.”
Mr Johnson added: “Putin must realise that his behaviour will do nothing but strengthen the resolve of the UK and every other G7 country to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Asked about the timing of the attack, hours after Mr Zelensky addressed G7 leaders via video
It shows again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which Putin will sink
BORIS JOHNSON HITS OUT AT MALL ATTACK YESTERDAY
link, the PM’s spokesman said he was not going to speculate on Putin’s “motivations”.
But he added: “He does have a record of callous attacks like this.”
The blast happened amid claims Russia is plotting “false flag” bombings of Belarus flats to drag their only ally into the war.
It would mirror 1999’s Russian apartment explosions that killed 300 and maimed 1,000, sparking the second Chechen War. The
Intelligence Directorate in Ukraine claims a mercenary unit has already arrived in Belarusian city Mozyr posing as civilians.
It said: “The plans of these groups include the organisation of a series of terrorist attacks.”
The warning was issued as security experts at intelligence advisers Stratfor said Western weapons are not arriving fast enough on the Ukraine front line.
It added the US military evaluates Ukraine’s prospects in the war as “extremely poor” and believes the war may last years as Russia learns from its mistakes.
Meanwhile, civilians in warravaged Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine had to be evacuated.
Tamara Kanonchenko, 81, was carried in a makeshift stretcher by volunteers from Vostok SOS in the Donetsk region yesterday.
c.hughes@mirror.co.uk