A Russian drone attack completely destroyed the Epicentr K shopping mall in Mykolaiv, leaving 520 employees without work, the company reported on Facebook.
The attack, which began on Sept. 4, saw the first drone strikes hit the central part of the facility. Emergency services and warehouse staff repeatedly contained localized fires during the early strikes. However, a sixth strike hit the furniture centre’s warehouse as more Russian drones circled overhead, forcing firefighters and workers to seek shelter for around 30 minutes.
During the forced delay, flames engulfed an area of 42,000 square metres (452,000 square feet) and were driven deeper into the structure by strong winds until the walls of the building began to collapse.
“If it weren’t for the last hit, we would have saved the shopping center. We really tried hard,” Epicenter’s post quoted Oleksandr Dmytryshyn, director of the facility.
According to Epicentr K, the destruction directly impacted 520 employees. Many had previously been relocated to Mykolaiv after earlier Russian attacks destroyed or damaged company facilities in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa.
Epicentr K was founded by Oleksandr and Halyna Hereha in 2003, when the company opened its first home improvement store in Kyiv. The chain currently operates 72 shopping centers across Ukraine, with a total retail area of more than 2 million square meters (21.5 million square feet) and around 38,000 employees. Approximately 4,600 of its employees are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2025, the company generated Hrn. 81.2 billion ($1.9 billion) in revenue.