Missile strike hits crowded mall in east Ukraine: Zelensky

KIEV

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".