Ukrainian rescue workers worked through the night to search for survivors in the wreckage of a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih after a Russian double-tap drone strike killed 16 people, local officials said.
On Friday, officials reported that the busy mall had been hit during daylight hours, leaving 16 dead and 130 injured. Regional military head Oleksandr Hanzha said another body was retrieved from the rubble overnight, bringing the death toll to 16.
Search for Missing Survivors
Hanzha said nine people were still missing, including two children. He added that 23 children were among those injured in the attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region. By Saturday morning, 14 injured survivors remained in hospital.
Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defence council, said 23 people were in serious or extremely serious condition, including three children: two boys aged 10 and 16 and an 11-year-old girl. Vilkul said all had undergone surgery and doctors were providing further treatment.
Second Strike Targets Responders
Zelensky said the attack was carried out in two waves, with the second strike aimed at emergency workers responding to the initial hit.
He described it as a “cynical and despicable” attack. Dramatic video footage verified by the BBC showed the second drone striking the already burning mall in Zelensky’s hometown. Russia’s military did not comment.
Vilkul said the drones flew at “extremely low altitudes”. He described the attackers as “animals”. Rescue teams from seven other Ukrainian regions were deployed to help search for survivors.
Rescuers continued operations into early Saturday while Zelensky said there had been missile and drone strikes across Ukraine during the evening and night, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
Other Overnight Attacks
Officials said at least two people were killed in further Russian strikes overnight. Moscow’s defence ministry said it targeted transport infrastructure and warehouses in the Kyiv region.
In Kyiv, Zelensky said ballistic missile strikes damaged railway infrastructure. He said one person was killed and another injured. In Zaporizhzhia, he said three people were hurt after what he called a “brutal” drone strike on a city minibus.
On Friday, local officials said four people, including three children, were killed in separate attacks in the southern Mykolaiv region, and another two were killed in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.
Zelensky also referred to the broader pattern of strikes, saying that on Thursday 17 people were killed and more than 40 were injured in a major missile and drone attack on Kyiv.
Ukraine Strikes Inside Russia
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine’s military said it carried out strikes on an oil refinery and a military airfield deep inside Russia. In recent months, Kyiv has increased attacks on Russian energy facilities and on warehouses of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, which Kyiv says help finance the war.
Ukraine’s military also said it struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region overnight, causing a fire.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the south-east.
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22 August 2026
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