Russian drones kill 14 people in Ukrain

Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a shopping mall in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, after a Russian drone strike on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, according to the Ukrainian Emergency Service.

A Russian "double-tap" drone strike on a shopping mall in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Friday killed 14 people and injured 121, including 22 children.

Zelenskyy condemned the strike, which targeted responding rescuers, as a "terrorist act" and vowed a response. Local administrator Oleksandr Vilkul said rescues are ongoing in the city, where a previous peak attack in April 2025 killed 20.

The incident occurred 24 hours after a nighttime strike on Kyiv killed 16, as Russia exploits Ukraine's Patriot interceptor shortages. Earlier Friday, drone strikes in Kharkiv killed two women, aged 73 and 66, while Ukraine intercepted 107 of 135 drones overnight.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes hit a Belgorod car, killing one and wounding four, struck a Volgograd military airfield, and set ablaze a Perm oil refinery 1,600 kilometers away. Russia claimed to intercept 536 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over annexed Crimea.

Analysts state that long-range strikes are escalating as troop movements on the 1,250-kilometer front remain restricted by drones and ground robots. -UNB