DISINFO: No act of terrorism in Kremenchuk, Russian army does not hit civilian objects
SUMMARY
There was no act of terrorism in Kremenchuk. Russian troops do not shell civilian objects. Action is taken only after reconnaissance. That was the case in Kremenchuk. The Russian army has modern long-range weapons which allow it to hit targets with high precision.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets claiming that Russian troops do not hit civilian objects during Moscow’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
There is evidence that it was Russian pilots who struck the shopping mall in the city of Kremenchuk on 27 June 2022. At least 18 people were reported dead and over 30 are missing. Ukraine’s Air Force Command established that X-22 missiles were fired from far-range Tu-22 M3 bombers in the skies over Russia. The bombers scrambled from an airfield in Russia’s Kaluga region and launched the missiles when they were flying over the Kursk region in Russia.
Russia’s Defence Ministry itself admitted targeting the city of Kremenchuk with a high-precision strike, although it said that a military object was hit. According to it, Western weapons detonated in the warehouse, which caused a fire at a nearby shopping mall that was closed. It is not true because there was no military object with Western weapons near the shopping mall.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned Russian reactions to the shopping mall strike. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said she was sure that this case might be lodged with the International Criminal Court as a crime against humanity. The EU also condemned the Russian missile attack as another heinous act.
This is not the first time when Russian troops strike civilian targets. An apartment block in Kyiv was hit on 26 June 2022 when at least one person was killed and six were injured. Russian troops shelled an Orthodox church in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk on 17 April 2022. Examples abound. Besides, Russian troops committed numerous war crimes during the occupation of the city of Bucha and some other neighbouring areas near Kyiv, primarily in February - March 2022. Evidence of Russian atrocities in Bucha is overwhelming and came to the world knowledge in early April. Several executions and shootings of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha were recorded in video by witnesses and Ukrainian drones.
Read more about the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.