Ukrainian mall attack survivor recounts 'hellish inferno', calls Putin a 'monster'

mall was thing extraordinary, but in middle of a war, it was an escape for those in this Ukrainian city who h decided t to flee. n it exploded in a Russian airstrike.

In moments on Monday afteron, a summer hangout became a hellish infer. Life and death depended on a shopper's decision wher to heed yet ar air raid siren and take shelter. Among those who stayed, at least 18 are de, more than 20 are missing and scores are wounded.

crowded mall in Kremenchuk, which housed largest toy store in town, is w latest shorthand for allegations of war crimes against Russia. As with earlier attacks on a atre, a train station and a hospital elsewhere in Ukraine, authorities in Moscow said mall was t target.

One day after airstrike, scene still smelled of charred debris. Grit hung in air, irritating skin and throats. Visitors laid red carnations, a spot of colour in still-smoking ruins.

Ims on social media showed burned body of a woman, white sneakers still intact, who appeared to have been caught in blast as she tried to run. In ar video, around time of impact, a man could be heard calling for his mor.

Horrific experiences of Ukrainians 

One mall employee, who gave only his first name, Oleksandr, said he h stepped outside with a colleague for a cigarette when air raid siren went off. He described moment of impact. 

"re was darkness in my eyes for two minutes," he said. "re was a black tunnel, smoke, fire. I started to crawl. I saw sun up re, and my brain was telling me I needed to save myself."

Everything was on fire, he said. A blast wave threw him under a car. He couldn't hear. Bits of shrapnel were embedded in his leg.

"Thank God that was it," he said. "I was very lucky."

He estimated 1,000 shoppers and employees h been in mall at time, contricting Russia's claim that it was empty.

Kateryna Romashnya h just reached mall on her walk home from work when explosion threw her to ground and blew out nearby windows. Stunned, she estimated that 10-15 minutes passed before ar explosion occurred.

"I realized I needed to get away," Romashnya said, and she ran with all her strength.

"It was terrifying," she said and began to cry.

"You have to be a real monster" to destroy a mall, she said. "I don't have words anymore."

Ukrainian authorities said that in dition to direct hit on mall, a factory was struck, but denied it housed weapons, as Russian officials alleged.

Dr Kostyantyn Manayenkov, chief surgeon at a Kremenchuk hospital treating wounded, said nine people in intensive care were in "very b condition." re h been skull injuries and some amputations, he said.

Some bodies were so bly burned that y were unrecognizable, said Denis Monastyrsky, Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, who visited scene. Identifying m could take days, he ded.

Those inside mall h h seven to 10 minutes to leave and get to safety when warning sounded, he said. A shelter was just across street.

Monastyrsky again pleed with Ukrainians who have lived with such sirens for four months w to understand danger and to act.

country's prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, emphasized that all Ukrainians must remain alert and expect a similar strike "every minute".

But near sunset on Tuesday, some residents could only stand and stare at debris.

"Say something!" one man cried, trying to rouse m. "Pray to God that he will help us!" (AP) 

(Im: AP)