A shopping mall in the Ukranian capital, Kyiv, was bombed and reduced to rubble by a Russian missile strike overnight.
The missile strike left at least eight people dead with dozens more feared trapped in the rubble as the Russian military step up their bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Footage from the Russian Ministry of Defence showed a missile hitting the Sport Life gym outside the Retroville mall late Sunday, flattening the building and leaving the mall heavily damaged.
The bomb blast was powerful enough to blow out windows of nearby buildings and also flipped over and incinerate vehicles in the car park.
The Russian military claim the reason for the missile strike was because Ukrainian missile launchers were being stored near the shopping mall.
Intelligence reports suggest the Russian advance in Kyiv has stalled, and is actually being repulsed in areas to the north-west.
The stalling has put pressure on Russia, and it’s shelling Ukraine with dozens of rockets each day in a ‘near-desperate’ attempt to swing the tide of war in their favour and gain leverage in negotiations.
Russia is trying to bomb Ukraine into submission, it’s military still has a significant amount of ballistic missiles and more than half of its cruise missiles available – meaning the strikes will continue for some time.
Russia’s invasion has driven nearly 3.4 million people from Ukraine, according to the United Nations. The U.N. has confirmed over 900 civilian deaths but said the actual toll is probably much higher. Estimates of Russian deaths vary, but even conservative figures are in the low thousands.
