Kremenchuk shelling — Rubryka's photo report from the scene of the tragedy
Photo: Rubryka
On June 27, russian troops launched missile attacks on the Amstor shopping and entertainment center in Kremenchuk, the Poltava region. At the time of the attack, more than a thousand people were in the center, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said. A fire broke out there, and the shopping center burned to the ground. As of the evening of June 28, it is known about 20 dead people and at least 59 wounded. There are also more than 40 statements from relatives about missing persons who may have been at the time of the shelling in the shopping center g in the shopping center.
Rubryka visited the site of the shelling — see the photo report.
The photos show that the shopping center in Kremenchuk has been badly damaged. After a fire caused by a missile strike, only the metal structure of the building remained intact.
The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that Amstor in Kremenchuk was hit by X-22 missiles fired from long-range Tu-22 M3 bombers. The russians carried out launches from the Kursk region.
Rescuers continue clearing the scene. Damaged building structures were dismantled with the help of heavy engineering equipment and small mechanization tools. 440 people and 70 pieces of equipment were involved by the State Emergency Service.
The area of the fire caused by the russian airstrike was 10,300 square meters.
The bodies of some of the dead cannot be identified because they were badly burned. They will be identified with the help of DNA examination. It takes several days.
The Kremenchuk Road Machine Plant (Kredmash) infrastructure was partially destroyed by a russian missile.
The building, in particular, was destroyed, and a hole from the explosion remained on the plant's territory. According to preliminary data, there are no injured workers. The tragedy at the plant itself was avoided, despite significant damage. All thanks to the hot weather.
"The explosion was at 3:43 p.m. when the missile hit the road machinery workshop. With an interval of about 30 seconds, another rocket hit the next target — a civilian infrastructure object, it was the Amstor shopping center," said Oleh Lednik, the head of the military administration of the Kremenchuk region.
In total, the plant has 1,820 employees. Today only 500 are working. They are distributed among the shops. Fortunately, the shop hit by an enemy missile yesterday was empty then.
However, there are victims at the plant. Two people are wounded — they have shrapnel wounds, and one man has a concussion. He was on duty at Amstor side and suffered a concussion. Yesterday everything seemed okay, and then my head started to hurt. He was hospitalized, and it turned out to be a concussion. He was shocked," Oleh Lednik said in a comment for Rubryka.
Mixtures for road construction and cans of mineral powder were stored in the damaged workshop.
June 28 was declared a Day of Mourning in the territory of the Poltava region to honor the memory of those who died due to the shopping center shelling, reported the Poltava CMA. In Kremenchuk, mourning will last until June 30.
The injured because of the missile attack were taken to hospitals in Kremenchuk and Poltava.
Rubryka visited the hospital for adults. The oldest victim of the explosion was born in 1956, the youngest in 2002. The injuries with which people are taken to the hospital, according to the director, are mostly shrapnel wounds. There are no lesions of internal organs. The patients who have lost a lot of blood are in the most severe condition.
The Ministry of Defense of russia admitted almost a day ago that the missile attack on the city of Kremenchuk in the Poltava region of Ukraine, which killed civilians – visitors to the shopping center – was carried out by the russian military. At the same time, the statement of the russian Ministry of Defense states that the attack was carried out by "high-precision weapons" on a military object: a "warehouse with weapons and ammunition that came from the United States and European countries in the area of the Kremenchuk Road Machine Plant." It is claimed that "the detonation of ammunition for Western weapons caused a fire in a non-functioning shopping center located next to the plant's territory." The report does not mention civilian casualties.
The SSU opened proceedings after the attack on the shopping center in Kremenchuk, according to Part 2 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war). The prosecutor's office employees also started criminal proceedings due to the official negligence of the shopping center employees.
The Kremenchuk oil refinery, the largest in Ukraine, is located in the city. At the beginning of April, russian aggressors launched a massive missile attack on the refinery. Authorities said the refinery would not resume operating until the end of the year.
