Ukraine mourns at least 18 including 9 children after Russian strike

Ukraine was in mourning on Saturday after the death of 18 people, including nine children, following a Russian missile strike the previous day in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown president, Volodymyr Zelensky, located in the center of the country. The bombing, one of the deadliest in recent weeks, hit a residential area of this industrial city on Friday, near a children's playground.

"18 is the number of people killed by the Russians when they launched a missile on Kryvyi Rih. Among them were nine children," lamented Sergii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region administration, after the end of emergency rescue operations, on Saturday.

Photos released by Ukrainian emergency services show several bodies, one of which is stretched out in front of swings. Videos circulated on social media, which could not be verified, show bodies lying in the street and a column of smoke rising into the sky. Other images show a car on fire while people scream.

"This is the kind of suffering you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy," Lysak stated, specifying that the strike injured 61 people, including 12 children, in a message on Telegram. In a separate Russian drone attack, a 56-year-old woman was killed and seven people were injured, he added. Firefighters extinguished several fires and five buildings were damaged by the bombing, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram.

"The whole world sees it"

The Russian Ministry of Defense, for its part, claimed to have "conducted a precision strike with a highly explosive missile on a restaurant" in the city "where commanders of formations and Western instructors gathered." Russian air defense systems intercepted and destroyed during the night 49 drones launched by Ukraine, the ministry also announced.

Russia "tries to cover up its cynical crime" and "once again spreads false information," reacted the Ukrainian army command, accusing Moscow of "war crimes." The Ukrainian Air Force claimed on Saturday that Russia launched 92 drones overnight, most of which were shot down or crashed without causing damage.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday denounced an act demonstrating that Moscow "does not want a cease-fire," as diplomatic exchanges continue since February to find a resolution to the conflict. "There is only one reason why all this continues. Russia does not want a cease-fire and we see it. The whole world sees it," he decried.

"Each missile and drone attack proves that Russia only wants war. And only international pressure on Russia and every possible effort to strengthen Ukraine, our air defense, and our armed forces will determine when the war ends," Zelensky continued on Telegram.

In his daily address, he further specified that, according to "preliminary results," it was a ballistic missile attack. "The missile hit an area near residential buildings, a playground, ordinary streets. Those who can do such things are not human and are scoundrels," the Ukrainian president stated forcefully.

Located about 80 kilometers from the front line, Kryvyi Rih has been regularly targeted by air attacks since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. About 600,000 people lived there before the war.

On Wednesday, four people were killed and 14 others injured also by a Russian missile strike there. In early March, a similar strike hit a hotel in this city, causing the death of two people and injuring seven others.

Andrii Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official responsible for combating disinformation, described the Russian missile used on Friday as an "Iskander." The Iskander is a Russian ballistic missile system that can have a range of up to 500 kilometers. "It is a deliberate strike aimed at killing a large number of people," he stated.