Russian drone strike sets Zaporizhzhia's Amstor shopping center ablaze

A Russian drone strike on the Amstor shopping center in the Pivdennyi microdistrict of Zaporizhzhia on the evening of September 22 caused a major fire covering 6,000 square meters, injuring two men aged 37 and 39. Firefighters had to periodically take shelter due to the threat of repeated attacks. The State Emergency Service and the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration reported the blaze. Unlike the other Amstor center in Baburka, which was burned on September 18, the building's external structures survived, but the interior was significantly damaged. The Amstor chain is operated by Smart Urban, part of Smart Holding, which had 11 centers at the start of the full-scale war but only three by late summer 2026, all in Zaporizhzhia. Since August 2026, Russians have struck shopping centers across Ukraine, including a deadly attack on Kryvyi Rih's Sonyachna Galereya that killed 16 people.