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SLOVIANSK, Ukraine, Jun 27 (AP) \u2014 Scores of civilians were feared killed or wounded in a Russian missile strike Monday on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine\u2019s central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian officials said.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was \u201cunimaginable,\u201d citing reports that more than 1,000 civilians were inside at the time of the attack. Images from the scene showed giant plumes of black smoke from a shopping center engulfed in flames, as emergency crews rushed in and onlookers watched in distress.<\/p>\n
At least 10 people were dead and more than 40 wounded, according to the Ukrainian regional governor.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy said the target presented \u201cno threat to the Russian army\u201d and had \u201cno strategic value.\u201d He accused of Russia of sabotaging \u201cpeople\u2019s attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The alleged Russian missile strike carried echoes of attacks earlier in the war that caused large numbers of civilian casualties \u2014 such as one in March on a Mariupol theater where many civilians had holed up, killing an estimated 600, and another in April on a train station in eastern Kramatorsk that left at least 59 people dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia continues to take out its impotence on ordinary civilians. It is useless to hope for decency and humanity on its part,\u201d Zelenskyy said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Vitaliy Maletskiy wrote on Facebook that the attack \u201chit a very crowded area, which is 100% certain not to have any links to the armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attack came as Russia was mounting an all-out assault on the last Ukrainian stronghold in eastern Ukraine\u2019s Luhansk province, \u201cpouring fire\u201d on the city of Lysychansk from the ground and air, according to the local governor.<\/p>\n
Russian forces appeared to step up an offensive centering on trying to wrest the eastern Donbas region from Ukraine after forcing government troops out of the neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk in recent days.<\/p>\n
Western leaders, meanwhile, pledged steadfast and continued support for Kyiv. NATO will agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine \u2014 including secure communication and anti-drone systems \u2014 when its leaders convene in Spain for a summit, according to the military alliance\u2019s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg.<\/p>\n
To the west of Lysychansk on Monday, the mayor of the city of Sloviansk \u2014 potentially the next major battleground \u2014 said Russian forces fired cluster munitions on the city after dawn, including one that hit a residential neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Authorities said the number of dead and wounded had yet to be confirmed. The Associated Press saw one fatality: A man\u2019s body lay hunched over a car door frame, his blood pooling onto the ground from chest and head wounds.<\/p>\n
The blast blew out most windows in the surrounding apartment blocks and the cars parked below, littering the ground with broken glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is now destroyed. We are the only people left living in this part of the building. There is no power,\u201d said local resident Valentina Vitkovska, in tears as she spoke about the blast. \u201cI can\u2019t even call to tell others what had happened to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall, Zelenskyy\u2019s office said at least six civilians were killed and 31 others wounded as part of intense Russian shelling against various Ukrainian cities over the past 24 hours \u2014 including Kyiv and major cities in the country\u2019s south and east, but not counting the attack in Kremenchuk.<\/p>\n
It said Russian forces fired rockets that killed two people and wounded five overnight in and near Kharkiv, Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city, and continued to target the key southern port of Odesa. A missile attack destroyed residential buildings and wounded six people, including a child, it said.<\/p>\n
In Lysychansk, at least five high-rise buildings in the city and the last road bridge were damaged over the past day, the regional governor said. A crucial highway linking the city to government-held territory to the south was rendered impassable by shelling.<\/p>\n
The city had a prewar population of around 100,000, approximately one-tenth of whom remain.<\/p>\n
Analysts say that Lysychansk\u2019s location high on the banks of the Siverskiy Donets River gives a major advantage to the city\u2019s Ukrainian defenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very hard nut to crack. The Russians could spend many months and much effort storming Lysychansk,\u201d said military analyst Oleh Zhdanov.<\/p>\n
In other developments, in Germany\u2019s Bavarian Alps, leaders of the Group of Seven countries pledged to continue supporting Ukraine \u201cfor as long as it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a joint statement on Monday after they held a session by video link with Zelenskyy, the leaders underlined their \u201cunwavering commitment to support the government and people of Ukraine in their courageous defense of their country\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S., meanwhile, appeared ready to respond to Zelenskyy\u2019s call for more air defense systems after Russian troops hit Kyiv with long-range missiles on Sunday. Washington was expected to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Britian\u2019s defense ministry said Russia is likely to rely increasingly on reserve forces in the coming weeks of the war.<\/p>\n
Analysts have said a call-up of reservists by Russia could vastly alter the balance in the war but could also come with political consequences for President Vladimir Putin\u2019s government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SLOVIANSK, Ukraine, Jun 27 (AP) \u2014 Scores of civilians were feared killed or wounded in a Russian missile strike Monday on a crowded shopping mall in Ukraine\u2019s central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that the number of victims was \u201cunimaginable,\u201d citing reports that more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-194015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}