Ukraine shopping mall hit by missiles

G7 leaders say they would continue to keep sanctions on Russia

KREMENCHUK Two Russian missiles slammed into a crowded shopping centre in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Monday, killing at least 10 people and wounding 40, the regional governor said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 1,000 people were in the shopping centre at the time of the attack, which witnesses said caused a huge fire and sent dark smoke billowing into the sky.

A Reuters reporter saw the charred husk of a shopping complex with a caved-in roof. Firefighters and soldiers were pulling out mangled pieces of metal as they searched for survivors.

“It is impossible to even imagine the number of victims ... It's useless to hope for decency and humanity from Russia,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Dmytro Lunin, governor of the central Poltava region, told Reuters that 10 people had been confirmed killed and that rescue workers would keep searching through the smoldering rubble for two days, with more bodies likely to be found.

“It's an act of terrorism against civilians,” he said separately, suggesting there was no military target nearby that Russia could have been aiming at.

Russia did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian accusations.

At one point, paramedics rushed into the building after rescuers called out “200” meaning they had found one or more bodies in the building. Reporters were later pushed away from the scene as air raid sirens wailed again.

Meanwhile, Western nations on Monday pledged unwavering support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, including more sanctions on Moscow and air-defence systems.

Leaders of the G7 major democracies, meeting at a German alpine resort, said they would keep sanctions on Russia for as long as necessary and intensify international pressure on President Vladimir Putin's government and its ally Belarus.

“Imagine if we allowed Putin to get away with the violent acquisition of huge chunks of another country, sovereign, independent territory,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC.

“The lessons for that would be absolutely chilling. The point I would make to people is I think that sometimes the price of freedom is worth paying.”

The United States said it was finalizing a weapons package for Ukraine that would include longrange air-defence systems — arms that Zelenskyy specifically requested when he addressed the leaders by video link on Monday.

Despite the boost from its allies, Ukraine was enduring another difficult day on the battlefront following the loss of the now-ruined city of Sievierodonetsk after weeks of bombardment and street fighting.

Russian artillery was pounding Lysychansk, its twin just across the Siverskyi Donets River, which eastern Luhansk province governor Serhiy Gaidai said was suffering “catastrophic” damage.

He urged civilians to evacuate urgently.

Lysychansk is the last big city still held by Ukrainian troops in Luhansk.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said the Russians were trying to cut off Lysychansk from the south. Russian war planes had also struck near the city, the general staff said in its daily update.

Russian Sunday reports that troops had already entered Lysychansk could not be confirmed by Reuters.

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Russia had carried out about 60 strikes against Ukraine over the weekend.

The official said a weekend strike in Kyiv that hit apartments was close to a factory that made munitions for Ukrainian forces.

In his address to the G7 leaders, Zelenskyy continued to ask for more arms, U.S. and European officials said.

He requested help to export grain from Ukraine and for more sanctions on Russia.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was in the process of finalizing a package that included long-range air-defence systems and would meet Ukraine's artillery ammunition needs.

The G7 nations promised to tighten the squeeze on Russia's finances with sanctions, including a deal to cap the price of Russian oil that a U.S. official said was “close,” and promised up to $29.5 billion more for Ukraine.

“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” a G7 statement said.

NATO Secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said its troops on high readiness would be massively boosted to over 300,000, with the Western alliance set to adopt a new strategy describing Moscow as a “direct threat.”