Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to retaliate after a double-tap drone strike on his home town killed 16 people. Rescuers are still searching for survivors in the wreckage of a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, that was hit twice by Russia on Friday. More than 130 people were wounded in a daytime attack carried out in two waves, with the second strike targeting emergency workers at the scene of the first.
Zelensky called the attacks an “act of barbarism”, claiming the “absolutely cynical and despicable” second strike was a deliberate attempt to target emergency services. Rescue teams from four other Ukrainian regions have been deployed to help search for survivors. Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said the Russian drones were flying at “extremely low altitudes”, describing the attackers as “animals”.
Zelensky renewed his calls for more air defence support following the strikes. In a post on X he said: “Every day that Ukraine lacks sufficient air defence means casualties that could have been prevented. ”Protecting lives requires daily decisions and effective support from the world, and right now, new supplies of ballistic missile interceptors and other missiles can help.” European Commission vice president Kaja Kallas has called the attack “terror by design”. She said in a post on X that the strike shows the “absolute and utter depravity of Moscow's war”.
The pressure must be intensified until Moscow ends the war.” Kryvyi Rih in particular has been hit multiple times during the war. One of the deadliest occurred in April 2025, when 20 people, including nine children, were killed. She said EU foreign and defence ministers will discuss how to expand support for Ukraine, including air and missile defence, when they meet in less than two weeks in Dublin.
The attack is the latest in a series of high death toll strikes over the summer. Friday’s attacks landed just 24 hours after Russia hit Kyiv with scores of missiles and drones in a nighttime assault that also killed 16 people. The capital has been hit hard repeatedly in recent weeks: 17 people were killed in a strike on Kyiv and its surrounding region just over two weeks ago, and nine died in another attack on 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. At the same time, Ukraine has shifted the war onto Russian soil through long-range drone strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages across the country. It also has unsettled the Russian public by striking warehouses of Wildberries, the country’s biggest online retailer.
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