Russia denied deadly missile strike on Kremenchuk shopping mall, so Ukraine released the video

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calls Russia's missile strike on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk on Monday an act of terrorism. French President Emmanuel Macron called it a "new war crime" by Russia. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Russia was responsible for the attack, which killed at least 20 civilians and wounded 59 others.
"The Russian army does not attack any civilian site," Putin claimed, falsely." We don't have the need for this. We have every capability to detect specific locations; and thanks to our high-precious long-range weapons we are achieving our goals." Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its "high-precision strike" on a factory storing "Western-made weapons and ammunition" had cause a fire that spread to the "non-functioning" mall. "First-hand accounts from survivors and expert analysis" discredited those claims, The Guardian reports.
Along with the eyewitness accounts, dead and wounded bodies, and satellite imagery, Zelensky on Wednesday released closed-caption TV footage of a Russian missile striking the mall at 3:51 p.m. on Monday. "In this war, Russia has often been accused of lying," said the BBC's Joe Inwood in Kyiv. "Rarely has it been so clearly demonstrated."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And the bombing of a shopping mall, deliberate or because of poor accuracy, isn't an isolated incident for Russia.
The U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday released a report documenting 10,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine since Russia invade on Feb. 24, including 4,731 deaths. And the real numbers are "considerably higher," said Matilda Bogner, head of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. "The high number of civilian casualties and the extent of destruction and damage caused to civilian infrastructure raised significant concerns that attacks conducted by Russian Armed Forces did not comply with international humanitarian law. While on a much lower scale, it also appears that Ukrainian armed forces did not comply with international humanitarian law in Eastern parts of the country."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Gaza is running out of cash
Under The Radar Palestinians pay the price as black market springs up around banknotes and coins
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Law firms: Caving to White House pressure
Feature Trump targets major law firms tied to his past investigations
By The Week US Published
-
Venezuelan deportees: Locked up for tattoos?
Feature A former pro soccer player was deported after U.S. authorities claimed his tattoo proved he belonged to a Venezuelan gang
By The Week US Published
-
Is the 'coalition of the willing' going to work?
Today's Big Question PM's proposal for UK/French-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine provokes 'hostility' in Moscow and 'derision' in Washington
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine: where do Trump's loyalties really lie?
Today's Big Question 'Extraordinary pivot' by US president – driven by personal, ideological and strategic factors – has 'upended decades of hawkish foreign policy toward Russia'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
What will Trump-Putin Ukraine peace deal look like?
Today's Big Question US president 'blindsides' European and UK leaders, indicating Ukraine must concede seized territory and forget about Nato membership
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine's disappearing army
Under the Radar Every day unwilling conscripts and disillusioned veterans are fleeing the front
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's mercenaries fighting against Ukraine
The Explainer Young men lured by high salaries and Russian citizenship to enlist for a year are now trapped on front lines of war indefinitely
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine-Russia: are both sides readying for nuclear war?
Today's Big Question Putin changes doctrine to lower threshold for atomic weapons after Ukraine strikes with Western missiles
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What would happen if Russia declared war on Nato?
In depth Response to an attack on UK or other Western allies would be 'overwhelming'
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Last updated
-
Are Ukraine's F-16 fighter jets too little too late?
Today's Big Question US-made aircraft are 'significant improvement' on Soviet-era weaponry but long delay and lack of trained pilots could undo advantage against Russia
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published