The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has risen to 18, including nine children, regional governor Serhii Lysak said Saturday. A further 61 people were injured in Friday's attack, ranging from a 3-month-old baby to elderly residents. Forty remain hospitalized, including two children in critical condition and 17 in serious condition. "There can never be forgiveness for this," said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defense council, per the AP. "Eternal memory to the victims." Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"The missile struck an area right next to residential buildings—hitting a playground and ordinary streets," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. Local authorities said the strike damaged about 20 apartment buildings, more than 30 vehicles, an educational building, and a restaurant. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting with unit commanders and Western instructors was taking place. Russian military claimed that the strike killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. The military's claims couldn't be independently verified.
The Ukrainian General Staff rejected those claims. A later drone strike on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and wounded seven other people. Zelenskyy 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 defenses. Russian forces launched 92 drones into Ukraine overnight, with 51 shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian air force wrote on social media on Saturday. A further 31 decoy drones also failed to reach their targets, it said.
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