In Kryvyi Rih, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the investigation into the aftermath of the Russian strike on a shopping center is ongoing. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, 16 people were killed and around 130 were injured. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhovsky, in his statement, reported the opening of a criminal case for official negligence and noted that investigators have already charged the director of one of the supermarkets operating in the complex.

Progress of the Investigation and the Charge Against the Director

According to the minister, investigators of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Police, under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor's office, opened a criminal case under the article on official negligence. As part of the proceedings, the actions of the officials of the company that owns the Kryvyi Rih shopping center, as well as of the companies that rented premises in the complex, are being examined. At the current stage, as Vyhovsky emphasized, the director of one of the supermarkets has been charged. According to his data, the facility continued to operate during the air raid alert, despite warnings from local authorities about the need to cease operations during such periods.

Timeline of the Attack and Circumstances of the Tragedy

The minister noted that a significant number of the victims were found precisely inside the supermarket premises. According to him, about 20 minutes elapsed between the declaration of the air raid alert in the city and the first drone hit — an interval that, according to the investigation's logic, should have been used for evacuation. It is precisely this time window and the circumstances of the operation of the retail facilities at the moment of the attack that are becoming key in the course of the examination.

What Exactly the Investigators Will Examine

In the course of the investigation, as Vyhovsky reported, the police will establish whether visitors and employees of the complex were properly informed, and whether a timely order to evacuate the building was issued. Separately, the prosecutor's office and the police intend to verify the widely circulated online information about blocked doors leading to the shelters. Upon completion of the examination, the actions of all responsible persons will be comprehensively investigated.

Contradictory Data and Information Under Verification

For now, the official figures on the losses — 16 killed and around 130 injured — are cited in the statement of the Interior Minister and have not been re-verified by independent sources in the provided materials. At the same time, some details, in particular the claims about blocked doors to the shelters, were by the minister himself classified as "widely circulated online information" subject to verification by the investigation. Thus, until the criminal case is concluded, some circumstances of the tragedy remain at the verification stage, and both versions — the official one and the one circulating on social media — will be compared during the investigation.

Context: Adapting Protocols to the Frontline Reality

Vyhovsky summed up that, within the framework of the case, the approved response protocols will also be examined: whether they were adapted to the real threats in a frontline region. This indicates that the investigation intends to assess not only the actions of specific officials, but also the systemic readiness of retail facilities for evacuation under conditions of regular air raid alerts.