KRYVYI RIH, Ukraine — Russian drones struck a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih on Friday in a two-wave attack that killed 16 people and wounded 130, local officials said, and further Russian missile and drone strikes overnight into Saturday killed at least seven more across Ukraine.
The assault on President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown was among the deadliest single attacks on Ukraine this week, following a Thursday-night barrage on Kyiv that killed 17. Nine people, including two children, were still missing as rescuers dug through rubble on Saturday, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
Two waves
Zelensky said an initial drone wave hit the mall and a second targeted emergency crews responding at the scene, calling the attack "cynical and despicable" on social media. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defense council, said the drones flew at "extremely low altitudes" and described the attackers as "animals." Twenty-three children were among those wounded, and 14 remained hospitalized Saturday morning, Hanzha said.
"Twenty-three [people] are in serious and extremely serious conditions, including three children - two boys aged 10 and 16 and an 11-year-old girl," Vilkul said. Russia's military has not commented on the strike.
Overnight strikes
Ballistic missiles hit railway infrastructure in Kyiv overnight, killing one person and wounding another, Zelensky said. Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had struck a locomotive depot. A separate ballistic missile strike on the Kyiv region Saturday afternoon killed two, local authorities said.
In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a drone strike killed one person overnight and a daytime attack killed three more and wounded 15, according to local officials. Three others were wounded when a drone hit a minibus in the regional capital.
Cross-border fire
Ukraine's long-range campaign against Russia continued through the night. Kyiv said its drones struck an oil refinery in Russia's Samara region, setting off a fire, and a warehouse operated by online retailer Ozon. Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 457 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Two children were killed and two adults wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike on a port town in the Krasnodar region, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. Local officials in Belgorod reported two dead and 13 injured.
The other side
Russia's Defense Ministry has not addressed the mall strike. Moscow has typically characterized its long-range strikes on Ukraine as directed at military and industrial targets rather than civilians.
Kryvyi Rih has been hit repeatedly during Russia's more than four-year war. An April 2025 strike on the city killed 20 people, including nine children, CBS News reported.