Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has published a video on Tuesday evening that pictures the moment of the missile strike on the Amstor shopping centre in Kremenchuk that killed at least 18 people. The footage contradicts the version provided by the Russian Defence Ministry.
The Russian military specifically targeted the coordinates of the shopping centre to make sure that they kill “as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall.”
“We have all the evidence of what the Russian troops are doing against our people. One such piece of evidence is in the video. So that no one dares to deceive about the missile strike at the shopping mall in Kremenchuk. The Russian missile hit this very object, purposefully,” he said.
“They wanted to kill as many people as possible in a peaceful city, in a regular shopping mall. For this act of state terrorism, as for all others, Russia will be responsible. On the battlefield in Ukraine, by the strengthening of sanctions and, of course, in the tribunal,” Zelensky stated.
The Russian Defence Ministry earlier claimed that the shopping centre was not operational and that the missiles targeted “a warehouse with foreign ammunition at the Kremenchuk automobile plant.” According to the ministry, the warehouse stored “Western-produced ammunition” that was meant to be transported to the Ukrainian military units in Donbas.
As a result of the missile strike on the Amstor shopping centre in Kremenchuk, at least 18 people were killed, head of the Poltava regional administration Dmytro Lunin said. According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, 59 people sought medical attention following the strike, 25 were hospitalised, and 36 are considered missing.
Kremenchuk Mayor Vitalii Maletskyi declared a three-day mourning period to honour the people killed in the strike.
