Russian missile strike hits crowded shopping mall in Ukraine

It was obviously a military target, right?

I mean, noted humanitarian Vlad wouldn’t intentionally target civilians including children in his “special military operation”, would he?

One wonders just how likely it is that this shopping center would have been targeted if, for example, Ukraine had the ability to hold targets in Russia at risk?

State terrorism.

The West is sending all manner of anti-aircraft rocketry to Ukraine to be handled by poorly trained operators. Russia is conducting air operations that might be reason for the launching of these highly explosive missiles to intercept these aircraft. No one seems to consider that, once these powerful munitions are launched, WHERE DO THEY GO IF, as most likely, they miss their 'target'? In agreement with the little we actually understand about 'Gravity', they COME DOWN. Where do they come down? Could be anywhere. And who is blamed for the destruction they cause when they do? Since we only ever hear one voice here, OF COURSE, Russia deliberately attacked a civilian facility when they have no end of easily identifiable military targets. What else could it be? The Ukrainians, after lying about SO MUCH, certainly wouldn't LIE about THIS, would they? Naw, best to just believe anything they say than to have to think and suffer that unaccustomed pain of putting two thoughts together in a row and feeling the doubt in one's own blind opinion...and best to ignore the verified reports of heavy Ukraine artillery shelling of civilian areas of Donetsk since that's old news having gone on now for seven years...

"It was obviously a military target, right?"

Yeah, some of the toy stores in that mall were selling G.I. Joe dolls dressed in Ukrainian uniforms. Putin heard about it and blew a gasket and demanded that it be taken out immediately, preferably at a time when the stores were packed full of children. That always brings a smile to Putin's face.

And who is blamed for the destruction they cause when they do?

I’m going to go ahead and blame Russia. Are you blaming Ukraine for trying to shoot down missiles fired at them?

One more war crime by Russia.

I still can't believe anyone is trying to blame Ukraine for a Russian invasion and war.

Thefu ,the US and Ukrainain are not a signature of the International Court of Justice,if they cared about international justice ,why do they not join the court

Putin is the modern-day incarnation of Genghis Khan as well as Joseph Stalin, turning cities that refused to submit into rubble, such as what happened this year in Ukraine’s Mariupol, was the Mongols’ trademark tactic.

These are war crimes. When you target obvious civilian sites. Unfortunately Russia and Putin will likely not be held accountable unless Ukraine is actually able to defeat them or the people of Russia decide it is time to get rid of Putin and his corruption.

Excellent that more Western weapons are going to Ukraine.

It was probably aimed at a military target but like 60% of Russian high precision weapons it flew off on its own course. Still for Russia it killed people who they were going to kill anyway. It’s a win win for Putin.

Avenger,who will arrest Putin in Moscow,talking about some fantasy been held accountable,when you know , nothing will happen is a watse of time

Someone will be along shortly to assure us the shopping center was full of Nazis, or that the pictures are staged, or that the Ukranians did it themselves.

Be patient, it takes them a while to get their conspiracies lined up.

The Ukrainians, after lying about SO MUCH, certainly wouldn't LIE about THIS, would they?

Ukraine is not a densely populated country, and so the likelihood of **multiple **stray Ukrainian missiles plowing into the same building right at the same time is extremely close to zero. This was targeted.

What else could it be?

The Russian military's primitive missile-targeting systems and outdated/inaccurate maps. Or the Russian military's scorched earth strategy, which we saw in Allepo, and which are seeing over and over again in Ukraine.

Theses atrocities shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with a modicum of knowledge of Russia's military and its tactics and strategy.

It must be true if Ukraine says so. Just like all the other reported attrocities that Russia supposedly carried out like Buch, train station attack, maternity hospital, the mass graves with crosses identifying each person buried etc., all false.

The Russians are stealing tractors and taking them back to Russia,

Russia stealing washing machines to recover the computer chips.

Putin has parkinsons, stomach cancer, brain tumor etc.

It's true !

Nice one I know you were being sarcastic, all you did was remind us of things we weren’t already aware of. When debating it helps to have a sound foundation for your argument. You sir have failed as your argument is flawed from the start.

Evil. But evil thrives when good men stand by and do nothing.

Not mentioned in Western media. It is adjacent to a military vehicle repair factory and missile making factory. Also, isn’t it strange there are almost no cars in a crowded supermarket car park?

I was all for restricting Western supplied weapons from a range perspective that were given to Ukraine...

Well, I've changed my mind - time for the gloves to come off - and for the US and Europe to give Ukraine their most sophisticated and most destructive conventional arms...

Time for some ATACM missiles to be launched at multiple Russian military installations and oil refineries...

Give Putin a taste of his own medicine...

US will not declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, because the US need it dysfunctional relationship with Russia

This indiscriminate targeting of a shopping mall/centre, where families shop, state terrorism as plasticmonkey clearly expressed, a war crime.

It ,what if someone accidentally put the wrong GPS coordinates in a missile program,it happens

And they cowardly Russians fired from their own territory, knowing Ukraine would not respond. Perhaps it is time to rethink this policy: bring down any plane, no matter the location, that fires on Ukraine.

NATO will agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine — including secure communication and anti-drone systems — when its leaders convene in Spain for a summit, according to the military alliance's secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg.

Despite what the new "Top Gun" movie suggests, there is very little need for manned aircraft in a modern war. Expensive manned aircraft are a poor spending choice. 

As we've seen in the invasion of Ukraine, drones and missiles are what matter. Anti-tank weapons are useful too.

Crowded mall in the middle of a supposed war going on in your country. Never mind about those Pesky Russians son. Let go to the mall and enjoy ourselves.

A few days two Ukrainian pilots flew all the way to the States for an interview with CNN, only CNN no one else and in the middle of a war.

In the United States military you can’t even go home to your grandparents funerals in the middle of a war or conflict because unless you have proof they raised you, their not considered immediate family members.

The propaganda machine is getting sloppy.

I think they just launch missiles randomly and just want to kill something

Cricky,

no, it wasn't aimed at a military target. It was intended to hit the shopping maul and cause as much destruction and casualties as possible. Another war crime, adding up to those already committed!

Vic,

where did you get all that (fantastic) information? Maybe you can reveal your sources to us. I mean, we don't want to spread fake news, now, do we?

Rodney,

sometimes people don't use their cars for their daily errands. Just trying to get what you need and getting back to a safe place, ya know!

So funny so stupid so sad, people are dead, that’s not cool.

Let go to the mall and enjoy ourselves

Or maybe, let's go to the mall and see if we can find some food?

 isn’t it strange there are almost no cars in a crowded supermarket car park?

Of course, because despite all the other privations being dumped on the Ukrainians, there is a plentiful supply of petrol, yes? I imagine not. Also the moskovites have shelled all the roads full of potholes, so travelling by car is not necessarily the quickest or most convenient method of getting from A to B.

And a moving vehicle is much more easily detected and hit by an orc drone (just for the fun of it) than a human body.

I think they just launch missiles randomly and just want to kill something

What the Americans used to call Shock and Awe.

I wish I were a Christian so that I could revel in the certainty of Mad Vlad getting what's coming to him in the eternal fires of hell.

Meanwhile the Kremlin has just announced that its Gremlin is planning to attend the G20 meeting in Indonesia in November. Maybe a chance to whisk him off to the Hague, or some specially commissioned war crimes tribunal.

That could be the reason the Ukrainian army is loosing so badly.

Wait, wasn't Ukraine supposed to be taken over in 48 hours, with half of them wanting to be taken over?

This is the Russian way of warfare. Hit civilian targets. They can't defeat the military, so go after something softer. It would be justifiable for Ukraine to go after targets in Russia. Why are they not doing that? All they would require is a few cruise missiles on a GPS route to Moscow. Notable that Ukraine had a sizable number of Nukes at the time of the Soviet Union breakup, and they were convinced to surrender them. I'll bet they are sorry about that one.

It’s hard to know what subjects are in the Russian education curriculum but for certain it’s not honesty, integrity, or civility. More likely the available majors are, lying and deceit, cheating in sports, hacking software for ransomware, stealing things like grain, destruction, and killing innocent people.

"Russian missile strike hits 'crowded' shopping mall in Ukraine"

Civilian targets... few here, apparently, have bothered themselves with history particularly of WWII and seen the aerial photographs of carpet bombed cities, bombed with HE and incendiary armament, square miles of the shells of homes and apartment buildings in Germany, same in Japan, as a POLICY of the 'Allies', the good ol' USA and Britain for whom civilians meant NOTHING, were in fact TARGETS. Perhaps when Russia starts napalming small villages, drops poisonous-unto-generations herbicides to destroy the food supply, thermobarically immolates many thousands trapped on roads retreating from Kuwait, bombs women and children sheltering on the side of the road and calls them 'terrorists', or does ANY of the things which the U.S. doesn't think twice about doing to people, we might condemn Russia. But, until Russia exhibits even a fraction of the psychopathy that is SOP for America, criticism from the West is pure hypocrisy. Such hypocrisy doesn't bother the mindless, of course, but should bother those who think they think...

'Some people did some bad things so it's perfectly OK for other people to do bad things' isn't a valid argument.

After WW2, in which all parties committed unspeakable acts, the common sentiment was 'never again', and most people, I think, worked to make it a reality. Vietnam, Iraq are a stain on the history of the US that will never be erased. None of that means it's OK to kill civilians in Ukraine in a trumped-up invasion that the aggressors cannot even bring themselves to call a war. You realise that people can condemn the US and condemn russia? It's OK to be non-binary.

until Russia exhibits even a fraction of the psychopathy that is SOP for America...

Don't worry, they've done that in spades.

Condemning russia is fine. Personally I'd like to see more concrete action, like Vlad in chains in the Hague.

William Bjornson

"Russian missile strike hits 'crowded' shopping mall in Ukraine"

Civilian targets... few here, apparently, have bothered themselves with history particularly of WWII

That's because we aren't talking about history here; we are talking about what is happening in Ukraine. This is whataboutism to the nth degree. Having seen Cleo's remark, I'll stop here. She says it all.