At least two dead, 20 injured in missile strike at Ukrainian mall

At least two people have died, and 20 injured after a missile hit a shopping mall crowded with about a thousand people inside, in the town of Kremenchuk in the Poltava region of Ukraine.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the office of the Ukraine president confirmed the news, reports BBC.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that 1,000 people were in the mall at the time of the strike and that a fire is raging.

The mall posed "no danger to the Russian army", he said.

President Zelensky further said the strike  has "no strategic value" to Russian forces.

Media reports state the site has been damaged with the collapsing building ablaze, and fire crews struggling to contain the flames.

"The occupiers have hit a shopping centre with over a thousand civilians inside," Zelensky said on Telegram.

"It is on fire, and rescue workers are trying to put out the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine."

"It posed no threat to the Russian army. No strategic value. People only wanted to live a normal life, which is what angers the occupiers so much.

"Out of helplessness, Russia continues to hit ordinary people. It is vain to expect it to be reasonable or humane."

The city's mayor, Vitaliy Meletskiy, said in a post on Facebook that the strike hit a "very crowded" place.

He said he was at the scene but did not say what had been hit and how many people had been killed or wounded.

Russia has committed a war crime by carrying out a missile on a shopping centre in the city of Kremenchuk in Ukraine's Poltava region, regional head Dmytro Lunin says.

Writing on Telegram, he said the number of people who've been killed and wounded in the attack still isn't clear as the shopping centre is still in flames.

According to a deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, two people have been confirmed to have died and 20 have been injured. Nine of them are in critical condition, he says.

"The missile strike at a shopping centre with people inside in Kremenchuk is another Russian war crime. A crime against humanity. This is an open and cynical act of terror against the civilian population." said Dmytro Lunin Poltava regional head.

"The missile strike at a shopping centre with people inside in Kremenchuk is another Russian war crime. A crime against humanity. This is an open and cynical act of terror against the civilian population."