Kyiv shopping centre bombing
Part of the Kyiv strikes in the battle of Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The shopping centre on fire after the airstrike
LocationRetroville shopping centre
Kyiv, Ukraine
Coordinates50°30′17″N 30°25′00″E / 50.504678°N 30.416758°E / 50.504678; 30.416758
Date20 March 2022 (2022-03-20)
~22:48 (UTC+2)
TargetGrad MLRS and resupply vehicles in the parking space.
Attack type
Missile Strike
Weapons9K720 Iskander
Deaths8+
PerpetratorsRussian Ground Forces
MotiveDestroy Ukrainian ammunitions storage (stated by Russia)

On 20 March 2022 around 10:45 pm, the Retroville, a shopping centre located in Kyiv, Ukraine, was bombed in a Russian airstrike. Part of the mall along with its 12-storey business center were destroyed. At least eight people were killed, six of whom were dressed in military fatigues.[1] According to the Russian government, the shopping centre was used as a cover to store and reload ammunition, including the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers by Ukraine.[2]

Background

Russian Armed Forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, launching an offensive into Kyiv Oblast, entering from Belarus. A battle in the city began on the following day.

The Retroville mall measured 120,334 cubic metres (4,249,600 cu ft) in size, had area of 86,000 square metres (930,000 sq ft) and housed more than 250 shops.[3][4] The mall was completed in May 2020.[3] It is managed by BT Invest, a Lithuanian investment company.[5]

Bombing

Aftermath of the bombing

During the evening of 20 March 2022, Russian Armed Forces bombed Retroville, a shopping centre in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.[6]

Ukrainian emergency services received reports of a fire at the shopping centre at 22:48.[7]

The mall was largely destroyed, as were nearby cars, Sport Life fitness club and a business centre.[3] Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that nearby buildings were badly damaged and at least eight people were killed.[6]

The company headquarters of supermarket chain Novus, located in the business centre, was "almost completely destroyed".[8][5][9][lower-alpha 1] Their flagship supermarket, located in the shopping centre, was also affected, and suffered collapsed ceilings and other structural damage.[5][13][9][lower-alpha 2]

Targeting

The Russian Ministry of Defence said it launched the strike because the shopping centre was used as a cover to store and reload ammunition, including the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, by the Armed Forces of Ukraine[15] and provided drone footage of what the Ministry described as a Ukrainian Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) firing and moving back to the shopping centre, before being destroyed by a Russian missile.[2] The day after the strike, Ukrainian authorities detained a man who they said shared footage showing Ukrainian military vehicles parked near the shopping centre on TikTok in late February, and warned Ukrainians not to publish information on Ukrainian military movements.[16][17]

See also


Notes

  1. ↑ Novus is also a project of the Lithuanian investment group BT Invest.[10][11][12][5]
  2. ↑ At the time the loss of the headquarters was reported, the full extent of the damage to the flagship supermarket could not be determined due to restricted access to the site.[14][13][9]

References

  1. ↑ In the ruins of Retroville: blast rips shopping mall to shreds as war closes in on Kyiv. Archived 2022-03-27 at the Wayback Machine In: Guardian/AFP, 22 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Ukraine war: Russia claims it attacked Kyiv shopping centre because it was being used to store rockets". Sky News. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Крицкая И., Штука Н. (2022-03-21). "Шесть лет стройки и €41 млн инвестиций. Что уничтожили русские, попав ракетой в торговый центр Retroville". Forbes (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  4. ↑ Glover, Ella (22 March 2022). "Kyiv's Retroville shopping centre unrecognisable following Russian airstrike". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Deveikis, Jonas (21 March 2022). "Lithuanian shopping centre shelled in Kyiv". Lithuanian National Radio and Television. Archived from the original on 2022-03-28. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Photos: Deadly shelling in Ukraine's Kyiv flattens shopping mall". Al Jazeera. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Firefighters rescue people from shopping mall rubble after blasts hit Kyiv – video". The Guardian. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "At least 8 killed by Russian missile attack on Kyiv shopping mall (PHOTOS)". The Kyiv Independent. 2022-03-21. Archived from the original on 2022-03-28.
  9. 1 2 3 "Novus Ukraine Head Office Destroyed Due To Missile Strike Of Invaders On Retroville SEC In Kyiv On March 20". Ukranews. 2022-03-24. Archived from the original on 2022-03-28.
  10. ↑ "BT invest – Projects". Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Novus купує мережу супермакетів Billa" (in Ukrainian). Ukrayinska Pravda. 2020-09-16. Archived from the original on 2022-03-28.
  12. ↑ "Зачем Novus купил сеть Billa, или Печальные приключения австрийцев в …". Archived from the original on 6 October 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Новус потерял главный офис в Украине: помещение находилось в Retrovil…". Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
  14. ↑ "Марк Петкевич, СЕО Novus: Ми продовжуємо працювати – Асоціація рітейл…". Archived from the original on 28 March 2022.
  15. ↑ "Russia says it hit Kyiv shopping centre because it was storing rockets". Reuters. London. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "Authorities detain Kyiv man for sharing footage of Ukrainian military on TikTok". The Kyiv Independent. 21 March 2022. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  17. ↑ Романенко, Валентина (21 March 2022). "Силовики затримали тік-токера, який виклав у мережу фото техніки ЗСУ у Києві". Ukrayinska Pravda. Archived from the original on 23 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
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