A BRAZEN ATTACK ON A SHOPPING MALL IN KRYVYI RIH KILLED SEVERAL RESIDENTS AND LEFT MANY INJURED

As Kyiv mourns civilians killed yesterday, today there was an attack by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the centre of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region. The images of residents killed and injured in a busy shopping mall on a Friday afternoon are utterly appalling. According to preliminary reports, at least 14 people were killed, and over 100 were injured, including several children.

As first responders were addressing the aftermath of the initial strikes, there was a second hit half an hour later.

I express my condolences to the families mourning their loved ones and hope for a full recovery of the injured.

Over recent weeks, hits in several densely populated cities of Ukraine have destroyed or damaged homes, a hospital, a school, markets, public buses and, today, a shopping mall, upending the lives of ordinary residents. 

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian objects. Civilians must be protected at all times.