Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded on Tuesday that Russia be recognized as a "state sponsor of terrorism", the day after a Russian strike on a shopping center that killed "more than 20 people", according to kyiv.

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“Only insane terrorists, who should have no place on Earth, can fire missiles at civilian targets,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

“And these are not off-target missile strikes in kindergartens, schools, shopping malls, apartment buildings, these are calculated strikes by the invaders,” he continued.

“Russia must be recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism. The world can and therefore must stop Russian terror,” concluded the Ukrainian president.

At a press briefing, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kiril Tymoshenko said the death toll from the strike on the Kremenchuk shopping center now stands at "more than 20 dead" and more than 40 missing.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said that some bodies cannot be identified because they are badly burned. “It can take a few days to identify them,” he said.