Family of Brighton councillor capture aftermath of Russian missile

The footage was captured by relatives of Patcham councillor Alistair McNair, who live in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine.

Cllr McNair, whose wife Tetiana is from the besieged Eastern European country, shared the clip with The Argus following the airstrike on Monday which left at least 20 dead.

A family member who was working just a few hundred metres away captured the shocking footage.

Screenshot from the aftermath of the missile strike

Smoke can be seen billowing from the bombed shopping centre in the video.

While in another video seen by The Argus, someone says “it’s just hell. It’s just hell. There are no windows left in the hotel opposite too”.

Alistair, who lived in Ukraine for eight years, told The Argus: “My wife was very worried at first because a family member works near the shopping centre where the attack happened.

“He had been into the shopping centre earlier that day to get food and drink for his lunch. He actually filmed the aftermath of the attack while he was at work.

Alistair in Kremenchuk where they had to pick up his mother-in-law in April

"So she was very worried about her family because they sometimes use the shopping centre but they’re all okay.

“We’re in touch with family all the time in Kremenchuk and Kyiv.

“We know a lot of Ukrainians in Brighton and Hove who have husbands either on the front line or training, there are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men training in the west of Ukraine.

“There are people here waiting for their husbands to be sent to the front line, so while we’re worried for our family, obviously, these Ukrainians have a lot more worries in that sense.

“We don’t have any relatives going to the frontline any time soon.”

Alistair and Tetiana went on a mission in April to rescue his mother-in-law Tamara and bring her back to Brighton and Hove. The rest of the family have no plans to leave their home city.

The 45-year-old said the journey was “quite something” and told of hearing “eerie” air raid sirens while out walking, witnessing machine gun-manned roadblocks and sitting on trains with blackout curtains to avoid being targeted by Russian attacks.

He said his mother-in-law Tamara, 63, planned to return to Kyiv in July but their plans are now “on hold” following the missile strike in Kremenchuk, which is 200 miles away from Kyiv.

From left, Tetiana, her mother Tamara, her aunt Lina and her cousin Leonid parting ways in Kremenchuk in April

Earlier today, Russia’s defence ministry released a statement claiming the shopping centre was “non-functioning” and that the bombing of a nearby ammunitions depot supplied by the US and Europe sparked a fire at the shopping centre.

BBC reporters on the ground confirmed that the shopping centre is in use after speaking with shoppers and employees inside the shopping centre after the attack.

At least 20 people died in the air strike, 25 are being treated in hospital and 40 are still missing.