The second strike in Kryvyi Rih, the monastery bombing in Myanmar and the cancelled Ashenda gathering in Mekelle showed on the same day how aircraft and drones are narrowing civilian space.
According to the BBC, Russian drones struck the biggest shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih in two waves on Friday. The Dnipropetrovsk regional administration said 15 people were killed and 130 were injured, including 23 children. Volodymyr Zelensky said the second strike targeted emergency workers who had already reached the scene. Russia's military did not comment on the attack.[1]
According to an opposition spokesperson and a local resident quoted by Al Jazeera, a Myanmar military fighter jet dropped two bombs 15 minutes apart on a monastery compound in Swel Le Oh village, 75 km west of Mandalay. The report says 14 people were killed and 20 were injured. More than 100 people were staying there for a weeklong religious retreat. The military did not comment on the incident.[2]
The BBC reports that the mass gathering planned for Saturday at a stadium in Mekelle for the Ashenda festival, which honours women and the Virgin Mary in northern Ethiopia, was cancelled. Dori Asgedom, who heads Tigray's culture and tourism bureau, said the decision reflected ongoing strikes and the threat of war, along with fears that the event could become the target of a drone attack. In this third case, the air threat did not land as a direct strike but still cleared a public space in advance.[3]
