Ukraine: Russian missiles hit mall with over 1,000 people inside

A busy shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk was hit by a rocket.

The mayor of the city, Vitaly Meletsky, said the attack resulted in deaths and injuries but gave no details.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that more than 1,000 people were in the mall at the time of the rocket attack and that a fire broke out.

"The mall is burning, firefighters are trying to put out the fire, it is impossible to imagine the number of victims," ​​Zelensky told the Telegram, adding: "It makes no sense to hope for decency and humanity from Russia."

⚡️ Zelensky: 'Russia strikes shopping center in Kremenchuk, while over thousand people inside.'

“The mall is on fire, firefighters are trying to extinguish the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine," said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram pic.twitter.com/Pb8IGeAevD

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 27, 2022

The Economist's correspondent, Oliver Carroll, reports "horror scenes", citing a man who spoke on the phone and told him: "People were in the building and the walls have started to fall in."

Horror scenes in Kremenchuk, as a Russian missile hits a shopping centre. The man speaking on phone : “people were are the building, the walls are starting to fall in” pic.twitter.com/REDBFmuT3R

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) June 27, 2022

In the videos that have already been released, there are images of dense black smoke rising from a burning building.

Kremenchuk is an industrial city of 217,000 inhabitants and is home to Ukraine's largest oil refinery.

Zelensky's key adviser, Mikhail Pontoliak, posted a video on Twitter of the site of the attack, noting: "Kremenchuk at the moment… Russia deliberately hit the mall, with more than a thousand people inside. In the middle of the day. Just because he wants to kill. To fill everything with Ukrainian blood. Russia is a terrorist state. "Russia is waging the most disgusting war."