A Russian missile strike that hit a residential area of the industrial Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on April 4 killed at least 18 people, half of them children, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The attack on President Zelensky's hometown was one of the deadliest against civilians this year, said Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Lysak noted that the rescue operation in the city was still ongoing.
Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko said more than 50 people were injured, and "the number is growing. They continue to seek medical help."
Lisak said the attack, which occurred shortly after 18:50 p.m. local time, damaged about two dozen high-rise buildings, more than 30 cars, schools and restaurants.
The attack followed a nighttime drone strike on the eastern city of Kharkiv, which killed at least five people, including an entire family, and injured more than 30 others.
Photos of the attack on Kryvyi Rih, posted by Zelensky on Iks, show several adult bodies lying on the ground, including one next to a children's playground. Windows in nearby apartment buildings were shattered.
"The whole world sees this. Every missile, every drone attack proves that Russia only wants war," Zelensky wrote on Telegram, noting that a rescue operation is underway.
"All Russian promises end with missiles, drones, bombs or artillery. Diplomacy means nothing to them," he said in his nightly video address.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it targeted a meeting of military officials in the city and described it as a "precision strike" that targeted "a meeting of unit commanders and Western instructors" in a city restaurant.
"As a result of the strike, enemy losses amount to up to 85 soldiers and officers of foreign countries, as well as up to 20 vehicles," the ministry said.
Kiev, however, rejected the claim and warned against the spread of Russian "lies".
This claim could not be independently confirmed.
The mayor of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, announced that April 7, 8, and 9 will be official days of mourning for the victims of the attack.
"Ballistic missile and drone attacks on residential areas and children's playgrounds are nothing short of mass murder," he wrote on Telegram. "We will always remember every victim. It is our common tragedy and pain... May the occupiers burn in hell. We will never forgive."
Zelensky said Russia also attacked a power plant in Kherson in the south. Ukraine and Russia agreed last month in meetings with the United States, which is trying to broker a ceasefire, not to attack each other's power plants.
US President Donald Trump has made ending the war a top foreign policy priority since taking office less than three months ago. Earlier this week, he repeated threats of sanctions on Russian oil if Russian President Vladimir Putin stood in the way of peace.
Attacks on Kharkiv
A drone attack on Kharkiv, the fourth on the city this week, caused fires, regional governor Oleh Sinyehubov said on Telegram, updating the death toll on April 4.
"An 32-year-old man died in hospital.... At this moment, five people are dead and XNUMX are injured," he said in a post on Telegram.
Preliminary reports indicate that the entire family is among the dead, regional police said after the bodies of a father, mother and daughter were found under the rubble of their home.
The attorney general's office said its officials were working to identify those who died and that three children were among those injured in the attacks.
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