KYIV: At least five people have been killed and 67 wounded after a Russian drone struck a shopping mall in Pavlohrad in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian officials say, in the latest attack on civilian areas as Moscow and Kyiv continue to exchange deadly strikes.
The drone hit the shopping centre during daylight hours when the streets were crowded, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. Shops and vehicles were damaged in the attack, while images released by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed firefighters battling burning vehicles amid thick clouds of smoke.
Regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said eight of the 67 injured were children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to the families of those killed and accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians.
“The Russians used drones to kill people who were simply standing near shopping centres,” Mr Zelensky said.
Pavlohrad Hit Again
Pavlohrad, an important logistics hub near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, has previously been targeted by Russian forces. Two people were killed in an attack on warehouses in the city last month, according to Ukrainian officials.
The latest strike comes amid a series of attacks on shopping centres across Ukraine.
A Russian attack on a shopping mall in Sumy on Wednesday killed two people and wounded 20. Russian aerial bombardment in Sumy on Thursday also injured eight people, including three children, Ukrainian media reported.
In Zaporizhzhia, a shopping mall was almost destroyed in a Russian strike on Monday, according to its owners. The facility was closed at the time, and no casualties were immediately reported.
Last month, Ukrainian officials said Russian drones killed at least 16 people and wounded 130 in an attack on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih.
Russia Reports Strikes
Russia has also reported deadly Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas.
Russian officials said Ukrainian seaborne drones targeted the shoreline of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Wednesday night, injuring 28 people, including two children.
On Thursday, Russian authorities reported that a Ukrainian drone strike on Novy Oskol in Belgorod Region killed one person and wounded six others.
Russian officials also said a Ukrainian attack on a car in Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia killed a 15-year-old girl and injured a six-year-old child and two women. A separate attack on a civilian lorry in the same region reportedly killed a man.
Ukraine has also carried out attacks on areas controlled by Russia. Ukrainian drones struck a shopping mall in the Russian-controlled port city of Mariupol on Monday, while another attack was reported in Donetsk last month.
Peace Efforts Stall
The latest escalation comes as a new US diplomatic effort to end the war appears to have made little tangible progress.
Envoys sent by US President Donald Trump held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv over the weekend, but the meetings have so far failed to produce a clear breakthrough.
The full-scale war has continued for more than four and a half years since Mr Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the latest attacks as a “tactic of coercion”, accusing Moscow of seeking to pressure Ukraine into making concessions.
“Russia believes that relentless attacks on civilians can exhaust Ukrainians and force Ukraine into concession,” he said.
The continuing strikes on populated areas underline the difficulty facing the latest diplomatic efforts, with both sides continuing to accuse the other of attacks on civilians while negotiations remain stalled.
Pavlohrad, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and other cities remain exposed to repeated missile and drone attacks as the war enters another prolonged phase.
