Russian Strikes Hit Four Epicentr Stores in Two Days as Kyiv Shopping Centre Damaged Again
Russian strikes have hit four Epicentr shopping centres in Kyiv, Uman, Pervomaisk, and Dubno in 48 hours, with the Uman site completely destroyed and the latest attack damaging another store in northern Kyiv.
Russian strikes have turned a Ukrainian retail chain into a repeat target, with another Epicentr store in Kyiv hit overnight as part of a wider bombardment that killed and injured civilians and damaged key city services.
Battlefield monitoring channels reported on 22 October that an Epicentr shopping centre in the northern part of Kyiv was struck overnight. It is the fourth Epicentr location hit in the last two days, after earlier attacks on the chain’s outlets in Uman in Cherkasy Oblast, Pervomaisk in Mykolaiv Oblast, and Dubno in Rivne Oblast.
Imagery from Uman shows the Epicentr shopping centre there, attacked the previous day by multiple Russian Geran‑4 and Geran‑5 jet‑powered drones, has been completely destroyed. Footage from Kyiv indicates heavy damage at the capital’s Epicentr site as well. The reports available do not present public evidence of military use at the named locations, and Ukrainian channels describe them as civilian retail infrastructure.
The wave of strikes on Kyiv that included the Epicentr hit injured people across the city and damaged medical and transport facilities. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 15 people were hurt in the night’s attacks, including two children. The Interior Ministry later reported that one person was killed and 22 injured in a ballistic strike on the capital, with four children among the wounded.
City authorities said metro infrastructure in Darnytskyi district on Kyiv’s left bank was damaged. In the central Pecherskyi district, a building belonging to the emergency medical service and six ambulances were hit. That leaves some of the very services needed to respond to attacks dealing with blast damage themselves.
For Ukrainians, Epicentr is a well‑known chain of large stores for home improvement and consumer goods. Its repeated appearance among recent strike sites means staff and customers have to weigh the risk of working in or visiting large commercial spaces that have already been targeted in several regions.
The overnight attack on Kyiv’s Epicentr was part of a broader set of strikes on storage and logistics facilities. Monitoring channels also reported a Russian Geran‑4 jet‑drone strike on a warehouse complex near the city of Kropyvnytskyi in Kirovohrad Oblast.
The choice of shopping centres, warehouses, metro infrastructure, and medical facilities shapes daily life far from the front. When such locations are hit in quick succession, there is less of a clear line between areas near the battlefield and civilian spaces in central and western Ukraine.
Signals to watch now include whether further Epicentr outlets are struck, whether other national retail chains begin to appear more often among reported targets, and whether Ukrainian authorities announce any changes to how large commercial and warehouse facilities are protected or dispersed.
Sources
- OSINT