“Russia’s attack on civilians at a shopping mall is cruel,” Biden said in comments on Twitter.
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“We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. As demonstrated at the G7 Summit, the U.S. along with our allies and partners will continue to hold Russia accountable for such atrocities and support Ukraine’s defense.”
Biden also stressed that the G7 would continue to impose sanctions against Russia, and in particular that this would apply to “Putin’s military-industrial complex.”
“We could have turned a blind eye to Putin’s barbaric war against Ukraine and the price of gas wouldn’t have spiked the way it has, but America rose to the moment,” Biden said.
“We proudly stand with Ukraine.”
Biden’s comments came after Russia launched a missile attack on the Amstor shopping mall in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in Poltava Oblast on June 27. According to the latest reports, 18 people were killed and at least 50 are injured in the Russian missile attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 1,000 people were in the mall at the time the missiles struck, and that “the number of victims is unimaginable.” The head of state said that the strike had no strategic value for the Russian army, and that the aggressor country was simply continuing to take out its anger on civilians.
Read also: Eighteen people killed as Russians launch missiles at packed shopping mall in Kremenchuk (UPDATED)
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine said that more than 40 reports of missing people at the shopping mall have been filed. Advisor to the Head of the Ministry of the Interior Affairs, Anton Gerashchenko, said that Russian troops launched two missiles at Kremenchuk, with the second missile hitting empty wasteland.
The city of Kremenchuk has the largest oil refinery in Ukraine, and in early April Russian forces launched a massive missile attack on that refinery. Authorities said the refinery would not resume operations until the end of the year.
The refinery is about 11 kilometers to the north of the Amstor shopping center. The nearest industrial facility is the Kremenchuk tire factory, a few hundred meters to the north.