THIS is the shocking moment terrified families cowered in fear and fled as Vladimir Putin blasted a Ukrainian shopping centre nearby.
CCTV footage from a park close to the blitzed mall shows the initial blast blowing debris into the pond as panicked mums with their kids watched on.
More than 1,000 people were in the mall at the time of the attack[/caption]
Upon impact, the camera trembles as couples and families who were in the park near the Amstor mall in Kremenchug leave their belongings and run away.
A second strike then hits, turning the screen orange. The couple then crouch down, as the alarmed man flings himself into the pond.
He is then seen diving down into the water to avoid getting injured by the flying debris.
The woman is captured running away as litter rains around her, and dark clouds form in the skies above.
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A second angle shows a frightened mother grabbing her small child, as she runs towards a nearby tree.
Just before they reach the tree, another one of Putin’s missiles targets citizens inside the mall – leaving at least 18 people dead and dozens injured.
This time, the camera shows the blast happening from afar – but still enough to scare the people walking in the park.
As the mother seeks refuge under the tree, grabbing her little one, as a passer-by runs towards them in hysteria.
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A third clip shows a lone jogger collapsing as the missile hits the water.
As he gets up, a second – more evident – blast is seen. This time, the runner lies on the floor as debris from the mall launches into the pond.
He is then seen sitting up, in awe of what just happened.
More footage shows citizens walking on the pond’s island, with some crossing the bridge.
As the horrific blast hits, they run away from the area. Panicked birds can also be seen flying away from the scene.
The scene was one of utter devastation[/caption]
What looks like little children are also seen running across the bridge, with their hands to their ears from the loud noise.
As another blast takes place, more people – who were not seen in the initial scene – leg it from the island.
Russia has today denied hitting the shopping mall with missiles, saying that it had struck a nearby depot of US and European arms, triggering an explosion which ignited the fire in the mall.
Russia’s defence ministry said in a daily statement on the war: “In Kremenchuk, Russian forces struck a weapons depot storing arms received from the United States and Europe with high-precision air-based weapons”.
“The detonation of stored ammunition for Western weapons caused a fire in a non-functioning shopping centre located next to the depot,” it added.
Speaking about the terrifying experience, Maksym Musienko, 26, who was at his job in an electronics store in the mall on Monday when the blast hit, says there were about 100 customers in the shop at the time.
“We were working. There were a lot of people in the shop, but I don’t remember anything after that,” he says.
“The shopping centre is not a place of danger for the Russians. We thought we were far away from the frontier,” Maksym adds
He is currently in hospital after suffering from shrapnel wounds, concussion and multiple scratches.
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Ukraine‘s president, Volodymyr Zelensky has called the attack “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history“.
More than 1,000 people were inside at the time of the rocket attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russia has today denied hitting the shopping mall with missiles[/caption]
