Sawt Falasteen - Ukraine strikes kill two children after Russia's deadly mall attack

Kyiv's forces also hit a warehouse of major e-commerce retailer Ozon, expanding its attacks on the sector after a month of strikes on facilities belonging to Russian online giant Wildberries.

"This morning, civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in the Yeysk district came under a drone attack," said Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region.

"As a result of yet another vile and cynical strike ... Two children were killed, and two adults are in the hospital," he added.

A separate Ukrainian drone attack on the central region of Samara killed one person, the local governor said.

Fresh Russian strikes killed two people overnight -- one in Kyiv one in Zaporizhzhia, close to the front line -- Ukrainian officials said.

In President Volodymyr Zelensky's home city of Kryvyi Rig, nine people were still missing after Russian drones smashed into a busy shopping centre on Friday afternoon, emergency services said.

Sixteen people have been confirmed killed and more than 100 wounded.

The set the mall ablaze and sent blood-covered victims running for the streets.

Zelensky blasted a second drone strike around half an hour later as a "cynical and despicable" attempt to kill first responders.

Mourners placed flowers and letters on the grass outside the mall in a makeshift memorial on Saturday.

An AFP reporter saw machinery piling up twisted and charred metal.

Supermarket shelves stacked with products blackened from the fire were stacked up beneath a cratered ceiling and behind blown out windows.

The strikes marked the latest escalation in the four-and-a-half-year conflict.

The United Nations reported that the civilian death toll so far this year had risen to its highest level since the first months of the war.

Kyiv has repeatedly appealed to allies for additional support as Russia steps up its strikes, with Ukrainian forces struggling to intercept salvos of ballistic missiles.

Leaders from Ukraine's allies are to hold video talks on Monday -- Ukraine's independence day -- to discuss their support for the country.

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST