This is the horrifying moment Russian bombs destroyed a Kyiv shopping mall, killing at least eight people.
Firefighters have been working through the night to rescue Ukrainians trapped underneath the rubble of the complex.
Retroville shopping mall, in the capital’s Podilskyi district, was hit at just before 10.48pm last night.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said at least eight people had been killed in the strike, the Kyiv Independent reports.
The bodies of six people have been laid in front of the destroyed building, according to news agency AFP.
The explosion was caught on camera with CCTV footage showing a huge fireball rising from the mall.
Glass and other debris can be seen raining down from the sky in the clip, while another video shows a pile of rubble covered in flames.
Another video showed firefighters rescuing a man after spotting his hands reaching out from the debris.
Morning…
— Viktoria (@Ukropo4kA) March 21, 2022
This is #Kyiv after #Russia missile attack…
No comment.#Ukraine #war pic.twitter.com/8ack8j8l9p
As the sun rose, pictures revealed that the shopping mall and the surrounding area had been turned into a wasteland of mangled metal and concrete.
One Ukrainian took to social media to share her heartbreak at the destruction of a place where she and her pals shared so many childhood memories.
She wrote on Twitter : “We went there to the pool, to the movies, to the stores, we ate at the food courts.
“My girlfriends and I used to go there in the summer to the movies, to celebrate the end of the school year. That place is gone, a Russian rocket flew into it last night.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko tweeted: “Several explosions in the Podilskyi district of the capital.
“In particular, according to information at the moment, some houses and in one of the shopping centres. Rescuers, medics and police are already in place.
“Rescuers are extinguishing a large fire in one of the shopping centres in the Podolsk district of the capital.
“At this time – one victim. All services – rescue, medics, police – work on site. The information is being clarified.”
It comes as the Russian advance on Kyiv falters, with forces stalling north-east of the city.
The Kremlin attack from the direction of Hostomel – to the north-west – has been pushed back.
The majority of Russian troops attempting to encircle the capital are more than 25 kilometres from the centre of Kyiv.
Meanwhile, captured Russian troops have urged their people to rise up against Vladimir Putin while warning that fellow soldiers that they are being thrown in mass graves.
A group of Russian soldiers who were sent into Ukraine have spoken out against their government during a press conference with news agency Interfax-Ukraine.
Alexei Zheleznyak, a soldier of the 34th separate motorized rifle brigade stationed in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic of Russia, surrendered to the opposing country’s forces.
He warned Putin that he would never be able to send enough troops into Ukraine to take the country.
“Putin, without declaring war, is bombing residents, hospitals, cities of Ukraine,” he said, according to translations of the press conference.
“People of Russia, don’t look at the zombies. The Ukrainian people are a brave people. They will stop this (Russian) equipment even without weapons. They are united.
“No matter how much Putin sends his troops here, he will not capture this territory… Our commander-in-chief is a liar and a deceiver of all our people.
“He deceived not only us, but the whole of Russia. He simply made fascists out of us.”
Mustafaev Mugsad, of the 34th separate motorised rifle brigade of the Russian Federation, urged his fellow citizens to ignore state propaganda about the war.
