One killed in Russian bombing of Kiev shopping center, says mayor

At least one person was killed when Russian forces bombed a shopping mall on Sunday in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, the city's mayor reported.

A huge explosion shook the city at the time of the attack and fires were observed in the rubble of the Retroville shopping center, AFP journalists said.

“One dead so far,” said Mayor Vitali Klitschko on the Telegram network.

“The enemy bombing” caused a fire in the shopping center in the northwestern district of Podilsky and left several carts on fire, emergency services said on Facebook.

Footage from security cameras released by emergency services showed a huge explosion and a cloud of smoke followed by several minor outbursts.

Firefighters pulled a man out of the rubble, according to a video released by emergency services.

The soldiers cordoned off the area and asked the journalists to leave because they were afraid that there would be other explosives.

Residents of a residential building whose windows were broken by the explosion said that several days earlier they observed mobile rocket launchers near the mall.

Kiev has been hit by a series of attacks last week, one of which left five injured on Sunday in an apartment building.

However, the Russian advance on Kiev has stalled. Russian forces engage in occasional fighting in northwestern and eastern Ukraine, but with little progress in two weeks.

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