A Russian drone strike on a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih — the central Ukrainian city where President Volodymyr Zelensky grew up — killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 130, including 22 children, after a second drone hit the same site roughly 30 minutes after the first in what Ukrainian officials are calling a deliberate "double-tap" ambush on rescuers.

The Friday strike hit the mall during daytime hours, according to The Moscow Times, which reported the toll climbing through the evening as rescue crews worked the wreckage. Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said 29 people remained in serious condition, including five children, with some victims still unaccounted for as of Friday night.

A Tactic Designed to Kill the Rescuers

The "double-tap" pattern — a first strike followed by a second aimed at first responders and bystanders who rush to help — has been used repeatedly by Russian forces against Ukrainian cities in recent months and is treated by international monitors as a potential war crime. Zelensky, who was born and raised in Kryvyi Rih before entering politics, called the attack "nothing less than terrorist acts," describing it as "absolutely cynical and despicable."

THERE ARE 29 PEOPLE IN SERIOUS CONDITION, INCLUDING FIVE CHILDREN.

Kryvyi Rih, an industrial city of roughly 600,000 people in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, has been targeted repeatedly since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, but Friday's strike ranks among the deadliest single attacks on the city to date. The mall was reportedly full of shoppers when the first drone hit, and search-and-rescue crews worked through the night pulling survivors and victims from the wreckage.

The attack landed as Ukraine's broader war effort enters its fifth year with the ground front largely static even as Russia intensifies aerial strikes deep behind the lines. A day after the mall bombing, further Russian strikes killed at least two more people elsewhere in Ukraine, according to CBS News, underscoring that the campaign against civilian infrastructure is continuing rather than easing.

Multiple outlets, including GMA Network, put the death toll as high as 16, reflecting how quickly the count moved as more victims were found. Moscow has not issued a public response to the strike or to Zelensky's characterization of it as a terrorist act.

What's Next

Search-and-rescue operations were still underway as of Saturday morning, with officials warning the toll could rise further. The strike is likely to intensify pressure on Ukraine's Western allies over continued air-defense support, days after Kyiv acknowledged its own Patriot interceptor stockpiles were running low. No ceasefire talks are currently scheduled, and Russian strikes elsewhere in the country continued into Saturday.