KYIV: Russian drones slammed into a busy shopping centre in eastern Ukraine on Friday, killing 14 people in an attack condemned as “cynical and despicable” by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The attack on Kryvyi Rig, Zelensky’s hometown, comes as Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukrainian cities in recent months.

Four more people, including three minors, were killed in another strike in the southern Mykolaiv region.

Videos on social media of the Kryvyi Rig incident showed rescuers rushing to help the wounded on the street outside, as smoke poured out of the building.

A second drone smashed into the roof of the building around half an hour after the first — a repeat strike that Zelensky said in a post on X was “targeting the emergency responders”.

Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said the drone strikes had triggered fires in the shopping centre and killed 14 people, wounding 121 others.

Zelensky in his X post condemned “an absolutely cynical and despicable strike... carried out by the Russians against an ordinary shopping center”.

Kryvyi Rig, an industrial city 60 kilometres from the front line, has come under repeated Russian attacks throughout the war.

Allies to meet

Ukraine’s allies are to meet on Monday to reaffirm their support for Kyiv in talks to be held on the country’s independence day.

The meeting of the Coalition of the Willing will be co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron — joining via video link — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2026