Russia's war on Ukraine: G7 condemn 'heinous attack' on Kremenchuk mall

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Plumes of smoke poured out of the shopping center in Kremenchuk

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Viacheslav Priadko / dpa

Footage of the devastating impact of a rocket in a shopping center in Ukraine was greeted with dismay at the summit of the leading democratic economic powers in Elmau, Bavaria.

The building in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, in which more than a thousand civilians are said to have stayed, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, burned down after the rocket hit on Monday afternoon.

At least 15 people were killed, according to Poltava Region Governor Dmytro Lunin.

The authorities had previously given the death toll as 13.

According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, the authorities have received at least 40 missing persons reports.

59 people have received medical treatment, around half of them are in serious condition.

The G7 released a joint statement on Twitter: "We strongly condemn the heinous attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk.

We will not rest until Russia ends its brutal and senseless war against Ukraine.

"Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians are a war crime," the heads of state and government of the seven countries said on Monday evening.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and others responsible “must be held accountable”.

In addition to Germany and the USA, the G7 group of leading democratic economic powers also includes Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.

In addition, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel will take part in the summit.

"This appalling attack shows once again the level of cruelty and barbarism the Russian head of state (Vladimir Putin) is capable of," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on the fringes of the meeting hosted by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

No reaction from Moscow

There was initially no reaction from Moscow to the accusation that Russian troops were responsible for the rocket impact.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the X-22 air-to-surface missiles were fired by long-range Tu-22 bombers from the Kursk region of Russia.

At the same time, the G7 countries pledged further support for Ukraine.

Its President Zelenskyy, who was connected via video, welcomed the planned enactment of further sanctions against Moscow, with Kyiv particularly relying on a price cap for Russian oil exports.

G7

and NATO are increasing the pressure

According to the G7, the focus of the new sanctions will be on the armaments industry and the technology sector.

The heads of state and government also want to put a stop to Russia's gold exports as a source of income for the war machine.

The Kremlin announced that in this case it would open up new sales markets.

The statement by the G7 was flanked by a clear signal from NATO to Russia.

One day before the start of the NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance would increase the number of its rapid reaction forces many times over - from around 40,000 to more than 300,000.

Attack triggers terror

On Tuesday (9:00 p.m. CEST), the UN Security Council wants to discuss the attack in Kremenchuk, as diplomats in New York announced on Monday.

The meeting was scheduled at the request of Ukraine.

EU Council President Charles Michel spoke of a "terribly indiscriminate" Russian missile attack.

But Russia's intimidation tactics will not work, he said confidently on Twitter.

The French foreign ministry has criticized the attack as another appalling violation of international humanitarian law.

Russia will have to answer for these acts.

Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than four months.

The United Nations has so far recorded over 4,700 civilian deaths, but like the government in Kyiv, assumes the number of victims to be far higher.

Several people were also killed in a rocket attack in the city of Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine on Monday.

According to authorities, eight people who queued in front of a tanker truck to get drinking water died.

In the city of Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian regional commander Oleg Sinegubov, Russian shelling killed five civilians and wounded 22 others.

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