Ukraine shopping centre strike kills 5, officials say

Ukrainian authorities said a Russian strike on a shopping centre in Pavlograd, central Ukraine, killed at least five people and wounded 67 on Thursday, including eight children.

Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said Russian forces struck the shopping centre in Pavlograd city centre in broad daylight while streets were packed with people. Regional governor Oleksandr Ganja gave the updated toll and said commercial premises and vehicles were damaged.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the strike “deliberate terror against civilians” and accused Russia of systematically attacking places where civilians spend time. Russia made no immediate comment in the supplied material.

The Pavlograd strike came as Russia and Ukraine have increased long-range barrages far behind the front lines, hitting civilian sites as well as factories, refineries, warehouses and ports. UN-verified statistics show civilian deaths in Ukraine are at their highest rate since the first months after Russia's February 2022 invasion.

In Russia's Belgorod region, rescue services said a Ukrainian drone strike on the town of Novy Oskol killed one person and wounded six others.

Canada on Thursday offered support to strengthen Ukraine's air defences and replenish its drone stocks during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Calgary. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Zelensky signed an agreement to work toward a “hundred-year partnership” covering areas including defence, critical minerals and energy.

The support announced Thursday includes CAN$350 million, or US$260 million. Carney also said Canada was offering CAN$450 million in loan guarantees to help repair damaged energy infrastructure, increase storage capacity and improve power supply to hospitals.

Zelensky suggested talks on ending the war could happen this month, while the Kremlin has said it is too early to discuss a venue or dates. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump discussed the conflict on Tuesday in what it called an “extremely frank” and constructive hour-long phone call.

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend in an attempt to restart stalled US efforts to end the fighting. Previous rounds of talks have failed to bring the sides closer. Moscow is demanding that Ukraine cede territory in the eastern Donetsk region that Kyiv still controls and renounce Western military support. Kyiv says those terms amount to capitulation and would allow Russia to prepare another attack.