| Poltava region Governor Dmytro Lunin denounces attack as a “war crime” and “crime against humanity”
KYIV - A Russian missile strike on Monday hit a crowded mall in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said, killing at least two and injuring dozens more.
“The occupiers fired missiles at a shopping centre where there were over a thousand civilians. The mall is on fire, rescuers are fighting the fire. The number of victims is impossible to imagine,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. A video shared by Zelensky showed the mall engulfed in flames with dozens of rescuers and a fire truck outside.
The Ukrainian president’s deputy chief of staff, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Telegram that there were around 20 wounded so far, with nine in “serious condition”.
“Two people died. The rescue operation continues,” Tymoshenko added. Poltava region governor Dmytro Lunin denounced the attack as a “war crime” and “crime against humanity”, saying it was a “cynical act of terror against the civilian population”.
Zelensky urges G7 to help end Ukraine war by winter
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged world powers to do their utmost to help end Russia’s invasion by the end of the year, as G7 leaders planned new sanctions and vowed to support Ukraine “as long as it takes”.
US President Joe Biden and his counterparts from the Group of Seven rich nations, meeting for three days in the Bavarian Alps, promised to tighten the economic screws on Moscow over its February 24 invasion. They also put on a show of unity over Ukraine, even as the fallout from the war intensifies with soaring energy and food prices driving up global inflation. “We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the G7 said in a statement on the summit’s second day.
Addressing the gathering via video-link, Zelensky urged leaders to help end the war before winter sets in and conditions for his troops become tougher. He urged allies to keep up the pressure and “intensify sanctions” on Moscow, including by imposing an oil price cap to limit Russia’s energy revenues.