The death toll on a Russian attack with missiles against Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (4), rose to 19.
Nine children are among the victims of this one of the deadliest attacks this year in a conflict that shows no signs of a fast end, despite the pressure for peace of the Trump administration.
Among the 68 injured was a three-month-old baby, and the attack also damaged dozens of apartment buildings and six educational institutes, as well as stores and companies, said Oleksandr Vilkul, mayor of Kryvyi Rih on Saturday, calling him a “tragic night”.
“Another bloody crime was committed by the terrorist country. Attacks on rockets and massive attacks by Shahed in residential areas and playgrounds,” the mayor said.
Russian troops hit Kryvyi Rih with a ballistic missile with a fragmentation warhead, which was “designed to reach a larger area and a larger number of people,” said Ukrainian state.
Zelensky’s hometown has suffered repeated Russian attacks in recent months. A deadly attack earlier this month killed four civilians in a taxi parking lot.
but could not negotiate an agreement. Ukraine allies believe Russia is curling in negotiations while trying to ensure an advantage on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his condolences to the families of the dead and injured in his night speech shortly thereafter.
“Many injured, damaged houses. The missile hit the area near residential buildings – a playground, ordinary streets,” said Zelensky.
Russia also attacked an energy plant in Kherson with a drone on Friday (4), Zelensky said.
“Russians know this is an energy installation,” Zelensky said. “These types of facilities should be protected from any attacks, according to the promises Russia made next to the American.”
In a statement on Telegram, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the attack targeted a meeting between Ukrainian and Western officers, describing it as “a high precision attack, with a high explosive missile at the site of a meeting with unit commanders and western instructors in one of the restaurants in Kryvyi Rih.”
“As a result of the attack, the enemy lost up to 85 military and officers from foreign countries, as well as up to 20 vehicles,” said the post.
A CNN contacted the Ukrainian authorities for more information.
Paralyzed Peace Negotiations
This is because little progress was done in
Last week, President Donald Trump’s frustration with his Russian colleague was clear. Trump said he was recently “angry” on a recent connection with Russian leader, who rejected Trump’s proposal to a total and immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and European leaders have made it clear that they believe Putin is delaying, believing that time is on his side, while Trump and his – who met Putin twice this year – insisted that Putin wants a peace agreement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he met a Putin envoy this week and sent him back to Moscow with a message: time is passing and there must be a breakthrough in peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
Rubio traveled to Saudi Arabia twice in the last two months for discussions with high Russian and Ukrainian authorities to try to start negotiations about a ceasefire and any agreement to end the three-year war.
Now, however, progress needs to be done, Rubio said. “There can be no conversations about conversations.”
Last week, after days of separated negotiations with Ukrainian and Russian authorities in Saudi Arabia, the White House said both sides agreed with a US mediated agreement to stop the use of black sea strength and also agreed to implement a previously announced break in the attacks on energy infrastructure.
However, Russia responded by establishing additional conditions at the Black Sea ceasefire, including the survey of sanctions imposed on their banks and exports.
