A busy shopping trip turned deadly in seconds.
A Russian drone strike on a shopping mall in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, killed four people and wounded 60, officials say.
The attack happened in daylight, when the city’s streets were crowded.
Shops and vehicles were damaged, while firefighters battled burning wreckage.
Two emergency workers were among the injured, and a child was also hurt.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike, saying, “The Russians used drones to kill people who were simply standing near shopping centres.”
But Pavlohrad is not alone. Shopping centres in Sumy and Zaporizhzhia were also targeted this week.
Adding to a growing pattern of attacks hitting civilian areas.
Civilian Toll Mounts
Last month, Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih killed at least 16 people and injured 130.
Russia, meanwhile, reported Ukrainian attacks of its own, including a seaborne drone strike on Sochi that wounded 28 people.
Other Ukrainian attacks reportedly caused deaths in Russian-controlled areas.
And what about peace? Recent US-led efforts to bring Moscow and Kyiv closer appear to have produced little concrete progress.
For civilians, the question remains painfully simple: how many more crowded streets will become battlefields?
