Ukraine war: Russian strike on shopping a centre a war crime - G7 leaders

At least 13 people have died in a missile strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.

Some 1,000 civilians were estimated to be inside the busy mall at the time of the attack at around 15:50 (12:50 GMT), President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The leaders of the G7 group of richest nations - who are meeting in Germany - condemned the attack as "abominable".

"Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime," they said in a joint statement.

Russia has been blamed for the attack, and there are fears the death toll will continue to rise.

Pictures online showed the building engulfed in flames and thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

"A crime against humanity. This is an obvious and cynical act of terror against the civilian population," the local governor Dmytro Lunin wrote on Telegram, also calling it a "war crime".

Ukraine's State Emergency Service, which gave updates on the death and injury toll, said 57 units were involved in battling the flames. Photos posted on its Telegram page show the blackened and charred shell of the building with the roof caved in.

There are still people missing, and as night fell, family members gathered at a hotel over the road, where rescue crews have set up a base, to wait for any news. Lights and generators have been brought to the site so crews can continue the search overnight, Reuters news agency reports.

The central-eastern city of Kremenchuk is located about 130km (81 miles) from Russian areas of control.

President Zelensky said the mall had no strategic value to Russia, and was no danger to its occupying forces - "only the attempt of people to live a normal life, which so angers the occupiers".

He described the attack as one of the "most brazen terrorist acts in European history".

The Ukrainian Air Force command said the shopping centre was struck by Kh-22 missiles launched from Tu-22M3 long-range bombers - however the BBC has been unable to verify this.

"The centre was just destroyed. Before we had strikes on the outskirts of the city, this time around, this is the centre of the city," an eyewitness, Vadym Yudenko told the BBC.

"I'm out of words," he added. "I did not expect that something like this could happen in my town."

The missile strike took place as the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK gathered in Germany for the G7 summit to discuss - among other things - toughening sanctions against Russia.

In addition to strongly condemning the attack, a joint statement issued by the Western leaders vowed to "continue to provide financial, humanitarian as well as military support for Ukraine, for as long as it takes."

The Kremlin is yet to respond to the attack, and has always denied targeting civilians.

Kremenchuk, in the Poltava province of Ukraine, is one of Ukraine's largest an industrial cities, with a population of nearly 220,000 people in a 2021 census.

It is not the first time the city has been hit by missiles - there was one strike recorded in April and another 10 days ago at a nearby oil refinery.

Hours after the shopping centre was targeted, eight civilians were killed and 21 more were wounded while collecting water in the eastern city of Lysychansk, the regional governor Serhiy Haidai said.

Lysychansk is the last major city still held by Ukrainian troops in the eastern province of Luhansk, after Russia took control of its twin city, Severodonetsk.

Speaking after the shopping mall attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it the "latest in a string of atrocities", while UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would strengthen the resolve of Western allies to stand by Ukraine.

"This appalling attack has shown once again the depths of cruelty and barbarism to which the Russian leader will sink," Mr Johnson said.

It may be far from the front lines, but today the city of Kremenchuk felt the heat of this war.

The inferno that resulted from Russia's missile strike on a shopping centre was incredible. Footage shared on social media showed panicked passers by rushing to help shoppers caught in the strike.

"Is anybody alive… anybody alive?" a man can be heard calling out. Ambulances were soon on the scene, taking the injured to hospital. It was too late for many.

Although Russia hasn't commented on the strike yet, it is already being suggested that this was another attempt by Moscow to send a message, just as the G7 group of wealthy nations was discussing new aid for Ukraine.

If this was Russian diplomacy, it was a negotiating tactic of the most brutal kind.