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Eighteen people, including nine children, have been killed in a Russian missile strike on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home city, a Ukrainian official has said.
A further 61 people were injured in the attack on Kryvyi Rih on Friday, including a three-month-old baby and elderly residents, the regional governor, Serhii Lysak, said. Forty remain in hospital, including two children in critical condition and 17 in a serious condition.
“The missile struck an area right next to residential buildings – hitting a playground and ordinary streets,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
He blamed the daily strikes on Russia’s unwillingness to end the war: “Every missile, every drone strike proves Russia wants only war,” he said, urging Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow and bolster Ukraine’s air defences.
“The United States, Europe, and the rest of the world have enough power to make Russia abandon terror and war,” he said.
“There can never be forgiveness for this,” said Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city’s defence council. “Eternal memory to the victims.”
The UK’s Europe minister, Stephen Doughty, said attacks on civilian infrastructure were “a sobering reminder that Putin continues to wage his barbaric war against Ukraine”.
He added: “Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the victims. As the prime minister has said, Russia could choose to accept a ceasefire but instead continues to bombard Ukraine and its population.”
Local authorities said the strike damaged about 20 apartment buildings, more than 30 vehicles, an educational building and a restaurant.
The Russian defence ministry claimed on Friday it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting had taken place with unit commanders and western instructors.
Russian military claimed the strike had killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. The military’s claims could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the claims.
A later drone strike on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and wounded seven other people.
The head of the British armed forces, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, met Zelenskyy on Friday alongside the leader of the French armed forces, Gen Thierry Burkhard.
“Britain and France are coming together & Europe is stepping up in a way that is real & substantial, with 200 planners from 30 nations working to strengthen Ukraine’s long term security,” Radakin said.
The UK and France have been at the forefront of planning for a “coalition of the willing” made up of nations that could help to keep Ukraine secure in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
