The mall had “no strategic value” and posed “no danger to the Russian army,” said Ukraine President

Volodymyr Zelensky.

But Russia’s strategy isn’t merely to defeat Ukraine’s military, which it has been unable to do. Russia’s goal is to break Ukraine’s will to resist, and attacking civilians is part of that strategy.

Missile strikes on Kyiv Sunday hit an apartment building and an empty kindergarten. One person died, and a 7-year-old girl and her mother were among the injured. In April a missile struck the railway station in Kramatorsk as civilians gathered to evacuate from the Donetsk region. Some 60 people perished, including children. An Associated Pressinvestigation suggested that some 600 died in March as Russia bombed the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol. Daily air raid sirens now terrorize families across Ukraine even when they’re not followed by an explosion.

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations,

Dmitry Polyanskiy,

suggested on

Twitter

that the incident was a “Ukrainian provocation” and “exactly what Kiev regime needs to keep focus of attention on #Ukraine before #NATOSummit.” The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs retweeted him.

But Moscow, not Kyiv, is slaughtering the Ukrainian people with rocket and artillery fire, and it’s hard to believe the attack on the mall was an accident. The Russians know how to avoid hitting shopping centers.

Russia has signed the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit attacks that deliberately target civilians and civilian facilities. Mr. Putin doesn’t care, and he thinks he’ll get away with it if he can defeat Ukraine or force it to submit to his peace terms. There will be more of this in more countries if Russia prevails in Ukraine.