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On Monday, Oksana Guida went to a mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk to buy a computer. Minutes later, the same mall was engulfed in flames after being hit by a Russian missile attack.
Guida, a local political activist, had returned to her car with her family when the store did not have what it needed.
Twelve minutes later, a Russian missile hit the mall, with 1,000 people reportedly inside. So far, 18 deaths have been confirmed, with dozens injured and many more missing.
Guida was about 160 meters from the explosion and suffered a head injury and hearing damage.
Through an interpreter, she told The Current that the mall was full of young families and mostly young women. She said she saw smoke immediately after the attack and then fire. People fled the building, but others returned inside to help.
She would later learn that nine people in the computer store she had just visited had been burned to death.
LISTEN | The city is in shock after the destroyed mall
The Current2: 19 The people went to the store and did not return
Kremenchuk has a population of about 220,000 people. Guida said many people know someone who has been caught or killed in the mall and the city is in shock.
The attack unfolded when G7 leaders met in Germany and issued a joint statement promising new sanctions against Russia and continuing to support Ukraine “as needed.”
Inna Sovsun, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, said it was a “good statement”, but she wanted to see efforts to stop the four-month war from turning into a long-term conflict.
“To make it short, we need arms supplies not somewhere in the future, we need them today,” she said.
WATCH | Russian strike hit the mall in Ukraine
Russian missiles hit a mall in Ukraine
Russian missile attacks hit another civilian target in Ukraine, a shopping mall far from the front line. Ukrainian authorities say the attack was aimed at terrorizing the population and putting pressure on its allies.
She welcomed US President Joe Biden’s promise to send missile systems earlier this month, but said Ukraine had asked for air defense assistance from the start.
“Oksana’s friends, who were burned alive in this building, could have lived if our voices had been heard a little earlier,” she said.
Russia is targeting civilians, the lawmaker said
Russia claims its missile was aimed at a nearby ammunition depot, causing a fire that spread to the mall. These allegations were denied by the Ukrainian authorities.
Sovsun said Russia was “targeting civilians”, citing other attacks, including an April bombing of a Kramatorsk train station that killed at least 52 people.
“They knew very well what they were doing and should be punished for what they did to Kremenchuk and other cities across Ukraine,” she said.
Volunteers continue search and rescue efforts early Tuesday. (Ephraim Lukacki / Associated Press)
She wants G-7 leaders to meet Russia’s invasion “not by expressing their concern, not by saying they are extremely outraged by what has happened, but by actually increasing arms supplies to Ukraine.”
Sovsun said she had recently returned her young son to Kyiv from western Ukraine to be closer to him. She felt it was safe to do so, but she quickly realized the effect the war had on him.
“I had to put him to bed last night, and he said, ‘Mom, the war is closer here, am I safe here?'” She said.
“This is something I will never forgive Putin and the Russians for, because my son feels this fear. But I know we have to persevere and keep fighting, “she said.
Written by Padreig Moran, with files from the Associated Press. Producer Joanna Dragici.
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