Russians attack Kryvyi Rih: DIY superstore on fire – video

Russian forces attacked the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the morning of 26 July, setting the only Epitsentr store in the city on fire.

Source: Oleksandr Hanzha, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration; Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council; Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centres; Mykola Lukashuk, Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council

Quote from Hanzha: "The Russians struck Kryvyi Rih. A fire broke out at a shopping centre."

Details: Hanzha says information about casualties is being established.

He also reported that the Russians attacked three districts of the oblast almost 20 times over the past day using artillery and drones, injuring one person.

In the Nikopol district, the Russians struck the Nikopol, Marhanets and Pokrovske hromadas. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.] A department store was damaged.

A 66-year-old man was injured in the town of Pavlohrad. He is receiving outpatient treatment.

A shopping centre was damaged in Kryvyi Rih. A fire broke out.

Update: Posts on local Telegram channels report that in Kryvyi Rih the Russian strike hit an Epitsentr home improvement store, where a major fire broke out.

Head of the Kryvyi Rih Defence Council Oleksandr Vilkul reported that rescue workers have contained the fire and work to extinguish it is underway. The city water utility and other municipal services are ensuring an uninterrupted water supply. "As of now, there are no casualties," he said.

The Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centres confirmed that the city's only Epitsentr superstore caught fire as a result of the Russian attack. The Epitsentr had been operating for almost 19 years – since December 2007 – and employed approximately 400 people.

Less than a week ago, the Russians attacked another facility belonging to the chain. Drones hit an Epitsentr in Sumy on the night of 19-20 July. There were no fatalities, but the retail outlet was burnt to the ground.

Nine Epitsentr home improvement stores in various regions of Ukraine have now been completely destroyed. One more remains in temporarily occupied territory, and 14 of the company's facilities have sustained damage.

Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Council Mykola Lukashuk also confirmed that the Epitsentr had been hit. "The morning in Kryvyi Rih began with a burning Epitsentr. The occupiers cynically struck the home improvement store several times," he wrote.

He noted that this is the third Epitsentr in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to be struck by the Russians since the start of the full-scale war.

In Nikopol, the fire inside the store covered an area of more than 4,000 sq m. In Kamianske, Russian missiles completely destroyed more than 11,000 sq m. Today – Kryvyi Rih. Exactly one year to the day after the strike on Kamianske.

"The Kryvyi Rih store had been operating for almost 19 years. That's around 400 jobs and the taxes that the city and the oblast received. There is no military production in a home improvement store. There are cash registers, paint, tiles, wallpaper and people who came on a day off to buy something for their home. That is exactly what Russia is 'fighting' in Kryvyi Rih today," Lukashuk said.

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