On Thursday, September 10, Russian military forces struck Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region. According to local media reports and confirmation by officials, the "Gulliver" shopping mall was hit, and a fire broke out in the building. As a result of the shelling, a store, trade pavilions, and parked cars caught fire, and part of the street in the city center was effectively destroyed. According to data from the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, 90% of the damaged objects are commercial.
Casualties and the injured
According to the latest data provided by the head of the Regional Military Administration, five people were killed in the attack, 67 injured are in regional hospitals, including eight children. Earlier, Hanzha reported four killed and more than 60 wounded, including three boys aged 13, 14, and 15. All the injured, he said, have been hospitalized and are receiving the necessary medical care. In addition, two State Emergency Service personnel were injured while eliminating the aftermath of the strike and were also taken to hospital.
Reaction of authorities and law enforcement
The Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office stated that it is recording the consequences of the Russian strike as a war crime. Under the procedural supervision of the prosecutor's office, a criminal case has been opened under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhovsky reported that at an expanded meeting in Dnipro, issues of responding to terrorist strikes and protecting civilian objects were discussed. According to him, more than 18,000 strikes have been carried out on the region since the beginning of the year, predominantly using UAVs, and recently the occupiers have intensified attacks on food warehouses, residential areas, trains, and shopping malls. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and stated that Ukraine is working with partners to ensure the protection of civilians from Russian terror.
Contradictory data
The figures on casualties and the injured in the statements of different officials differ significantly, which is typical for a developing situation. The regional prosecutor's office in its initial statement indicated three killed and 34 wounded, including one child. The head of the Regional Military Administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, first reported four killed and more than 60 wounded (three children), then updated the data to five killed and 67 injured (eight children). President Zelenskyy, in his reaction, cited the figure of four killed and more than 60 wounded. Thus, the final balance of losses at the time of publication remains uncertain and continues to be clarified.
Context: a series of attacks on Pavlohrad
The September 10 attack was not the first in recent times. On August 28, Russian occupiers shelled Pavlohrad, as a result of which a fire broke out and four people were injured. On August 13, a logistics company was hit, and a fire broke out on its premises. On August 6, a "Banderol" drone-missile struck a "Ukrposhta" sorting depot in the city, killing two female employees of the enterprise. The series of strikes on the city confirms the trend mentioned by Minister Vyhovsky: the intensification of attacks on civilian and commercial objects in the autumn-winter period.
