NATO countries gather as Ukraine war overshadows Europe; death toll rises after Russian attack on shopping mall - CNBC

Ukraine's emergency services said the Russian missile strikes on a Ukrainian shopping mall yesterday killed at least 18 people and wounded 59 others.

Russian officials have reacted to international condemnation over a missile strike on a shopping mall on Monday by posting false and unfounded claims about the attack.

— rather than the shopping mall that was struck by Russian missiles on Monday, killing at least 18 people and injuring many others.

Ukraine and Western military officials have said that there is no military target near the shopping mall in Kremenchuk.

The search and rescue operation continues at the shopping mall at Kremenchuk that was hit by Russian shelling on Monday.

Damaged building structures are being dismantled with the help of heavy engineering equipment and small mechanization, Ukrainian officials said on Telegram today.

"Exactly what Kiev regime needs to keep focus of attention on Ukraine before (the) NATO Summit," he said, referring to the alliance's meeting in Madrid that begins Tuesday.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmitryo Kuleba said on Twitter today that it was "sickening to see Russian reactions to the Kremenchuk shopping mall strike.

The death toll from the Russian missile strike on the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk on Monday has risen to 18, according to a Ukrainian official.

Russian forces launched what Ukraine believes were Kh-22 missiles on a shopping mall in the town of Kremenchuk, a town along the Dnipro river which flows through the center of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging platform that the strike on the mall in Kremenchuk had "no strategic value" and was not a site affiliated with Ukrainian armed forces.

G-7 leaders condemned the attack on Monday, issuing a joint statement in which they said: "We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack.

Stoltenberg said Monday that "the security concerns of all allies must be taken into account as part of the NATO accession process.

Russian missile strikes on a Ukrainian shopping mall killed at least 15 people and wounded 59 others, Ukraine's emergency services said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier said on the Telegram messaging platform that more than 1,000 people were inside at the time of the rocket attack, NBC News reported.

"This is not an off-target missile strike, this is a calculated Russian strike — exactly at this shopping mall," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.

G-7 leaders condemned a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian shopping mall that resulted in the death of innocent civilians.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging platform that the strike on the mall in Kremenchuk had "no strategic value" and was not a site affiliated with Ukrainian armed forces.

The NATO military alliance will increase the number of its forces at high readiness to over 300,000 from the current number of 40,000, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

"We will transform the NATO Response Force and increase the number of our high readiness forces to well over 300,000," said at a press conference on Monday, ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid that begins on Tuesday?

NATO's announcements come as the military alliance tries to best assist Ukraine in repelling the Russian invasion, with various NATO members sending arms to Kyiv, but trying to avoid a direct confrontation with nuclear power Russia

"We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," the G-7 said in the communique on Monday

Finally, the G-7 added that it will increase the costs of Russia's war on Ukraine by imposing targeted sanctions on those responsible for war crimes, exercising illegitimate authority in Ukraine, and those that it said were "standing behind Russia's engagement in efforts to increase global food insecurity by stealing and exporting Ukrainian grain or otherwise profit illegitimately from the war."