Ritain said on Tuesday that a horrific attack on a crowded supermarket in Ukraine was an “act of terror” by Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The government strongly condemned the rocket attack on the Kremenchuk store in central Ukraine, which killed at least 18 people and injured dozens of others.
Chris Philp, Minister of Technology and Digital Economy, told Sky News: “The attacks Russia is carrying out on civilian targets, clearly deliberate, are just sickening and horrific.
“We saw the attack on a shopping center yesterday.
“But it’s not a one-time thing.
“We’ve seen them attack children’s hospitals, maternity wards and flats over the past three months.
“Apparently there is no end to the barbarity of Putin’s downright criminal regime.”
When asked if it was a terrorist act, he added: “Yes, I would go so far as to say it is because it is deliberately targeting civilians.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were 1,000 civilians in the building at the time of the attack.
“The mall is on fire, firefighters are trying to put out the fire, the number of victims is impossible to imagine,” the country’s leader said on Telegram.
The mall posed “no danger to the Russian military” and “no strategic value” to the Russians, Mr Zelensky added.
He said: “People just wanted to live normal lives, and that’s what makes the occupiers so angry.
“Out of helplessness, Russia continues to hit ordinary people. It is vain to expect it to be reasonable or humane.”
On Monday, the leaders of the G7, currently at a summit in Germany, said in a joint statement that they “solemnly condemn the appalling attack”.
“We stand united with Ukraine in mourning the innocent victims of this brutal attack.
“Arbitrary attacks on innocent civilians constitute a war crime. Russian President Putin and those responsible will be held accountable.
“Today we underlined our unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, an unjustified war of choice that has been raging for 124 days.”
They said they would “continue to provide financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine for as long as necessary”.
“We will not rest until Russia ends its cruel and senseless war against Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Air Force Command said the mall was hit by two long-range X-22 missiles fired by Tu-22M3 bombers flying from Shaykovka airport in Russia’s Kaluga region.
Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, wrote on Twitter, without citing evidence, that the attack was a “Ukrainian provocation.”
Rescue workers hit the site of a shopping mall
† Source: REUTERS“Just what the Kiev regime needs to keep its focus on Ukraine ahead of (the) NATO summit,” he said, referring to the alliance’s meeting in Madrid that will begin on Tuesday.
An industrial city of 217,000 before the Russian invasion, Kremenchuk is the site of Ukraine’s largest oil refinery.
Boris Johnson condemned Vladimir Putin’s “cruelty and barbarity” after the attack.
“This horrific attack has shown once again the depths to which cruelty and barbarity will sink the Russian leader,” he said.
“Once again, our thoughts are with the families of innocent victims in Ukraine. Putin must realize that his behavior will do nothing but strengthen the determination of Ukraine and every other G7 country to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
It came the day after Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev for the first time in weeks, with missiles hitting at least two residential buildings.
Zelensky’s office said at least six civilians have been killed and 31 injured in the past 24 hours as part of intense Russian shelling of several Ukrainian cities, including Kiev and major cities in the south and east of the country.
It said Russian forces fired rockets that killed two and injured five in and near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and continued to attack the main southern port city of Odessa.