
August 21st, 2026
Russian drones struck a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, a central Ukrainian city, on Friday, killing 14 people and wounding 121 others, including 22 children, local officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose hometown is Kryvyi Rih, called it a double-tap strike.
A first wave of drones hit the area, then a second wave followed as rescue workers arrived.
He described the attack as a terrorist act and said Ukraine would respond.
The attack came one day after Russia hit Kyiv with missiles and drones, killing at least 16 people.
Moscow has intensified ballistic missile strikes on the capital in recent months.
It is exploiting Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors, the only weapon that can shoot down such missiles.
Large-scale Russian strikes have become common this summer.
The UN said Kyiv was one of the hardest-hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed.
Earlier on Friday, a Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed two women, aged 73 and 66, and wounded two others.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down or suppressed 107 of 135 Russian drones launched overnight.
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and wounded four others in the Belgorod region, local officials said.
Zelenskyy said a separate Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil refinery in Perm, more than 1,600 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, and the Marinovka military airfield in the Volgograd region.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 325 Ukrainian drones overnight over 15 regions and Crimea, and later shot down another 211.
Analysts say long-range strikes have escalated as troops fail to make significant battlefield progress.
Ukraine aims to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into peace talks.
August 21st, 2026

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