A Russian missile attack killed at least 14 people, including six children, in a residential area of the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, one of Moscow’s deadliest strikes this year.
The attack on Zelenskyy’s hometown, which comes as US President Donald Trump tries to end the war, damaged residential blocks and sparked fires, Serhiy Lysak, the governor, wrote on the Telegram messaging app
The bodies of the dead and wounded could be seen lying on the pavement, one of them by a playground, in unverified videos circulating on Telegram, as grey smoke rose into the sky.
At least 50 people were wounded, the emergency services said, adding that the figure was growing. More than 30 people, including a three-month-old baby, were in hospital, Lysak said.
Zelenskyy said the rescue effort was still under way and called on the West to exert greater pressure on Moscow.
“The whole world sees it. Each missile, every attack drone proves that Russia seeks only war,” he wrote on Telegram.
The United States said last week it had agreed with Russia and Ukraine that they would cease strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure, a first such step since Trump took office in January after pledging he would end the war in 24 hours.
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Both sides have since accused each other of flouting the agreement
Kyiv says it had earlier agreed to a US proposal for a full unconditional 30-day ceasefire, but Russia rejected such a step in separate talks with US officials.
“We need to put an end to this terror, protect people, and force Russia into peace,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Russian forces used a ballistic missile for the strike, human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said
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Such weapons take just minutes to reach their targets and are difficult to shoot down for all but high-end air defences.
“Not a single military facility – just civilian infrastructure,” he added on Telegram
Russia denies targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and injured in its invasion of Ukraine since 2022.
On Wednesday, a Russian missile struck an enterprise in Kryvyi Rih, killing at least four civilians.
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