Russian Drone Strikes Pavlohrad Shopping Centre: Five Killed, 67 Injured

Fri Sep 11 2026 09:26:13 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

A Russian drone attack on Pavlohrad’s mall killed five people and wounded 67, including children, in a daylight strike on a busy street.

Ukrainian officials confirmed five deaths and 67 injuries, including eight children, after a Russian drone struck a Pavlohrad shopping centre during peak hours. Zelensky denounced the strike as "despicable," calling the drone attack a coercive tactic aimed at forcing Ukraine’s concessions. Moscow blames the assault on Ukrainian drones. The incident follows a string of attacks on retail spaces across Ukraine’s front‑line cities.

Russian Drone Strikes Pavlohrad Shopping Centre: Five Killed, 67 Injured

Images released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine show firefighters directing water hoses at burning vehicles amid a cloud of smoke on a street in Pavlohrad.

In a Telegram post, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha identified 67 people injured, eight of whom were children. Victims include shoppers, bystanders and local residents caught in the daylight attack as “the streets were full of people.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to families of the victims and condemned the strike as “despicable.” He stated, “The Russians used drones to kill people who were simply standing near shopping centres.”

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the attack a “tactic of coercion,” adding, “Russia believes that relentless attacks on civilians can exhaust Ukrainians and force Ukraine into concession.”

Pavlohrad, a logistics hub near Dnipro, had suffered previous attacks, including two deaths during a warehouse strike last month. The new drone attack marks another escalation in the ongoing war that has raged since the 2022 invasion.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian drones struck shopping malls in Mariupol and Donetsk, while Russian air raids hit Zaporizhzhia and Sumy, causing additional casualties. The June 2023 strike on Kryvyi Rih’s mall resulted in at least 16 deaths and 130 injuries, further illustrating the pattern of civilian‑targeted drone warfare.