Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ukrainian Survivor: Only a 'Real Monster' Would Attack a Mall
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
June 28, 2022

Share

 

In moments on Monday afternoon, a summer hangout became a hellish inferno. Life and death depended on a shopper’s decision whether to heed yet another air raid siren and take shelter. Among those who stayed, at least 18 are dead, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded.

The crowded mall in Kremenchuk, which housed the largest toy store in town, is now the latest shorthand for allegations of war crimes against Russia. As with earlier attacks on a theater, a train station, and a hospital elsewhere in Ukraine, authorities in Moscow said the mall was not the target.

One day after the airstrike, the scene still smelled of charred debris. Grit hung in the air, irritating the skin and throats. Visitors laid red carnations, a spot of color in the still-smoking ruins.

Images on social media showed the burned body of a woman, white sneakers still intact, who appeared to have been caught in the blast as she tried to run. In another video, around the time of impact, a man could be heard calling for his mother.

One mall employee, who gave only his first name, Oleksandr, said he had stepped outside with a colleague for a cigarette when the air raid siren went off. He described the moment of impact.

“There was darkness in my eyes for two minutes,” he said. “There was a black tunnel, smoke, fire. I started to crawl. I saw the sun up there, and my brain was telling me I needed to save myself.”

‘Everything Was on Fire’

Everything was on fire, he said. A blast wave threw him under a car. He couldn’t hear. Bits of shrapnel were embedded in his leg.

“Thank God that was it,” he said. “I was very lucky.”

He estimated 1,000 shoppers and employees had been in the mall at the time, contradicting Russia’s claim that it was empty.

Kateryna Romashnya had just reached the mall on her walk home from work when the explosion threw her to the ground and blew out nearby windows. Stunned, she estimated that 10-15 minutes passed before another explosion occurred.

“I realized I needed to get away,” Romashnya said, and she ran with all her strength.

“It was terrifying,” she said and began to cry.

“You have to be a real monster” to destroy a mall, she said. “I don’t have words anymore.”

A woman lights a candle at a shopping center, after a rocket attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (AP/Efrem Lukatsky)

Burned Bodies and Amputations

Ukrainian authorities said that in addition to the direct hit on the mall, a factory was struck, but denied it housed weapons, as Russian officials alleged.

Dr. Kostyantyn Manayenkov, the chief surgeon at a Kremenchuk hospital treating the wounded, said nine people in intensive care were in “very bad condition.” There had been skull injuries and some amputations, he said.

Some bodies were so badly burned that they were unrecognizable, said Denis Monastyrsky, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, who visited the scene. Identifying them could take days, he added.

Seven Minute Warning

Those inside the mall had had seven to 10 minutes to leave and get to safety when the warning sounded, he said. A shelter was just across the street.

Monastyrsky again pleaded with Ukrainians who have lived with such sirens for four months now to understand the danger and to act.

The country’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, emphasized that all Ukrainians must remain alert and expect a similar strike “every minute.”

But near sunset on Tuesday, some residents could only stand and stare at the debris.

“Say something!” one man cried, trying to rouse them. “Pray to God that he will help us!”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Delta Plane Flips on Toronto Runway Amid Winter Storm

DON'T MISS

Fresno Joins National Protests Against Trump Administration

DON'T MISS

Canadian National Anthem Booed, but Only Lightly, at 4 Nations Hockey Tournament

DON'T MISS

Former Vice President Kamala Harris to Be Honored by NAACP With Its Chairman’s Award

DON'T MISS

‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches Across US

DON'T MISS

Where to Chill on the Cheap in the Caribbean

DON'T MISS

Should Builders Permit Their Own Projects? Post-fire LA Considers a Radical Idea

DON'T MISS

I Was a Bad Father. How Do I Live With the Regret?

DON'T MISS

Royal Caribbean to Launch First-Ever San Diego Cruises in 2026

DON'T MISS

What Is Field Hockey? Fresno’s Sikh Community Explains

UP NEXT

Fresno Joins National Protests Against Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Canadian National Anthem Booed, but Only Lightly, at 4 Nations Hockey Tournament

UP NEXT

Former Vice President Kamala Harris to Be Honored by NAACP With Its Chairman’s Award

UP NEXT

‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches Across US

UP NEXT

Where to Chill on the Cheap in the Caribbean

UP NEXT

Should Builders Permit Their Own Projects? Post-fire LA Considers a Radical Idea

UP NEXT

I Was a Bad Father. How Do I Live With the Regret?

UP NEXT

Royal Caribbean to Launch First-Ever San Diego Cruises in 2026

UP NEXT

What Is Field Hockey? Fresno’s Sikh Community Explains

UP NEXT

Sean Combs Sues NBC Over Documentary That He Says Defamed Him

Former Vice President Kamala Harris to Be Honored by NAACP With Its Chairman’s Award

21 hours ago

‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches Across US

21 hours ago

Where to Chill on the Cheap in the Caribbean

1 day ago

Should Builders Permit Their Own Projects? Post-fire LA Considers a Radical Idea

1 day ago

I Was a Bad Father. How Do I Live With the Regret?

1 day ago

Royal Caribbean to Launch First-Ever San Diego Cruises in 2026

2 days ago

What Is Field Hockey? Fresno’s Sikh Community Explains

2 days ago

Sean Combs Sues NBC Over Documentary That He Says Defamed Him

2 days ago

European Detour Destinations Are 2025’s New Travel Trend

2 days ago

California’s Aging Population Will Test Whether Its Demography Is Destiny

2 days ago

Delta Plane Flips on Toronto Runway Amid Winter Storm

TORONTO — A badly injured child is among eight people who were hurt Monday when a Delta Airlines plane flipped upon arrival at Toronto’s Pea...

18 hours ago

A Delta Air Lines plane heading from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed at Toronto's Pearson Airport, Monday Feb. 17, 2025. (Teresa Barbieri/The Canadian Press via AP)
18 hours ago

Delta Plane Flips on Toronto Runway Amid Winter Storm

18 hours ago

Fresno Joins National Protests Against Trump Administration

Team United States fans cheer after their team defeated Canada in a 4 Nations Face-Off hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
21 hours ago

Canadian National Anthem Booed, but Only Lightly, at 4 Nations Hockey Tournament

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, boards Air Force Two at the Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Harris might have traveled on Friday to Philadelphia or Milwaukee for the umpteenth time, but motivating tuned-out voters in battleground states required something different. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times)
21 hours ago

Former Vice President Kamala Harris to Be Honored by NAACP With Its Chairman’s Award

Downed trees cover the roadway toward South Jefferson Street from severe weather in downtown Tuscumbia, Ala., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025.(Dan Busey/The TimesDaily via AP)
21 hours ago

‘Life-Threatening Cold’ Expected as Polar Vortex Stretches Across US

1 day ago

Where to Chill on the Cheap in the Caribbean

1 day ago

Should Builders Permit Their Own Projects? Post-fire LA Considers a Radical Idea

1 day ago

I Was a Bad Father. How Do I Live With the Regret?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend