At Least 13 Killed in Russian Missile Strike on Ukrainian Mall

A Russian missile strike hit a crowded shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing at least ten people and wounding another 40, senior Ukrainian officials said.

Footage circulated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed a huge blaze raging in a sprawling building and dark smoke billowing into the sky as onlookers stood outside. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.

Zelenskyy said more than 1,000 people were in the shopping center at the time of the attack. He gave no details of casualties but said: "It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims."

A rescue operation was under way and nine of the wounded were in a serious condition, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office.

"It's useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia," Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

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Kremenchuk, an industrial city of 217,000 before Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine, lies on the Dnipro river in the region of Poltava and is the site of Ukraine's biggest oil refinery.

There was no immediate comment from Russia, which denies deliberately targeting civilians.