People have been posting the names and pictures of their missing relatives in the wake of Vladimir Putin' s horrific missile attack on a Ukrainian shopping centre.
The latest death toll in Kremenchuk has risen to 18, with 36 missing and 59 seeking medical help including 25 who were hospitalised after the strike by Russian bombers.
Russia has repeated allegations that the Kremenchuk horror was staged by Ukraine , possibly with Western help, to pressure NATO to speed up weapons supplies. This is the line they also took following the atrocities in Bucha.
Among those reported as missing in the devastation are Tatyana Brigadirenko, who worked at the Amstor shopping mall.
Her boyfriend Ihor Ivakhnenko is desperately searching for her.
Oksana Poshtarenko, born in 1992, was working at the household appliances store Comfy and has not been seen since.
Relatives of two more Comfy workers, Yuri Mikitenko and Daniil Sidorov, born in 1996, say they have been out of contact since the strike.
Konstantin Vozniy and Nikolay Krychkov are two further Comfy store workers who are also missing.
Another Amstor employee Sofia Vinnik, 21, was known to have been at work and has not been heard from since.
She has a tattoo reading ‘Balance’ on her hand.
Shopper Anna Vovnenko is also missing — her mother, with her at the mall, is now in hospital.
A message pleading for information about Anna says that she has a pierced nose.
The feared victims are not answering their mobile phones.
One sad message shows a picture but no name and says: “We are looking for mum, 50. She was at her workplace in Amstor. If anybody knows anything, please call….”
Alyona Velichko, 44, went to meet a friend at Amstor and is still missing, with relatives unable to get in touch.
Olga Pavlenko's daughter Sonya posted a message about her missing mum: "Friends, thank you for your support. I appreciate everyone. I will immediately share any information if we find mama. But please, do not ask me for news every half an hour.
“I understand you are worrying, but I am not made of steel. Thank you again."
Other feared victims were named as Amstor mall worker Sergey Markovich, born in 1983, and shoppers Vyacheslav Demidov, 23, and Ruslan Mykolenko, 26.
Russian state TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov openly claimed that the mall mayhem was staged by Ukraine, alleging that a lack of cars at the shopping centre indicated it was almost empty at the time of the supposed missile strike.
“Ukrainians do the same trick as always when they need additional [military] help,” he said on Rossiya 1 channel.
“They start screaming - they had Bucha earlier, today they have Kremenchuk.
“Supposedly a shopping mall. There are supposedly many deaths, though for some reason there were few cars [in the car park].
“And there were almost 1,000 [dead]. Then they talked about 100 [dead]. There are no photos. Everything is as usual.”
Earlier Russia claimed that Ukrainian and Western allegations of rape and massacres in Bucha were a stunt to make Putin’s troops appear barbaric.
This was widely refuted by satellite and firsthand evidence.
Legitimny Telegram channel also posted its version of events.
It said: “Numerous videos show that the Amstor shopping centre in Kremenchuk caught fire from the consequences of an explosion nearby at a plant, and was not hit by a missile attack.
“The cause of the tragedy was the proximity of the mall to the facility where the equipment was being repaired.
“Experts believe that in the event of a missile strike, nothing would have been left of the mall.
“The videos do not show the remnants of a rocket, and also did not show the place of the exact strike, which would stand out against the background of the fire.”
Another channel, War With Fakes, claimed that Amstor shopping centre “was used as a warehouse for storing military equipment”.
“It doesn't look like the mall was open at all,” said the report.
US president Joe Biden condemned the attack, saying: “Russia's attack on civilians at a shopping mall is cruel. We stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
He Tweeted: “We could have turned a blind eye to Putin’s barbaric war against Ukraine and the price of gas wouldn’t have spiked the way it has, but America rose to the moment.
“We proudly stand with Ukraine.”
Regional governor Dmytro Lunin denounced the attack as a "war crime" and a "crime against humanity”.
It was a "cynical act of terror against the civilian population".
