The number of people killed in a missile strike on a shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk has risen to 18, a regional official said on Tuesday, as search and rescue operations continue.
Dmytro Lunin, head of Poltava region military administration, said rescuers continued to work at the site.
“Another 36 people are missing. We continue the search,” Lunin said.
Hundreds of people had been at the mall minutes before the strike, which Ukrainian officials say was by a Russian KH-22 missile. The KH-22 can carry an explosive warhead weighing up to 1 ton (2,240 pounds).
“The dismantling of damaged building structures is ongoing with the help of heavy engineering equipment and small machines,” Lunin said.
He added that 25 people were admitted to intensive care at the hospital in Kremenchuk.
“More than a thousand people worked all night — rescuers, police, medics and volunteers,” he said.
