Russian strike kills at least 6 at shopping center in central Ukrainian city

Russian drones struck a shopping center in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday, killing six people and wounding scores of others, authorities said.

Six children were among the 91 injured in the afternoon strike in the city, which is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said local administration head Oleksandr Vilkul. He said the rescue operation was ongoing and that the number of casualties could still rise.

Zelenskyy described the strike as a double tap, with an initial wave of drones striking the area, followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded.

“Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media.

Kryvyi Rih has been hit multiple times during the more than 4-year-old war, with one of the deadliest occurring in April 2025, when 20 people, including nine children, were killed.

Friday’s attack came just 24 hours after Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime aerial attack that killed at least 16 people.

Moscow’s forces have in recent months intensified their ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine’s chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the sole weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down the missiles.

Large-scale Russian strikes have become a regular occurrence this summer. Just over two weeks ago, a Russian attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people, and nine were killed in the city two days before that. The United Nations said last week that Kyiv was one of the hardest hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed and 202 injured.