Children among 16 dead in a Russian attack on the hometown of Zelenski

A Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Krivi Rich killed at least 16 people and left dozens of injured, Ukrainian officials said.

Six of the dead were children, said President Volodimir Zelenski, who grew up in Curve Rich. The city’s defense leader, Alexander Vilkul, said the ballistic rocket landed in a residential area.

The images show at least one victim lying on a playground while the video shows a large part of a 10-storey block of apartments, destroyed and victims lying on the road.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that his forces have directed a meeting of a military unit and “officers from foreign countries” and that up to 85 have died. He did not provide evidence.

The attack, early on Friday night, was among the deadliest in the rihi Rich since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and came when US President Donald Trump insisted on ending fire.

Zelenski wrote on social media that at least five buildings were damaged at the strike on Friday: “There is only one reason why it continues: Russia does not want to end the fire and we see it.”

The regional leader at Kryvyi Rih, Serhii Lysak, said more than 40 people were treated by wounds and the smallest was only three months old.

Military chiefs from the United Kingdom and France met with Zelenski in Kiev on Friday to discuss plans for foreign peacekeepers to be located in Ukraine as part of a potential transaction to end the fire.

But there are few signs of missing out on violence.

Curves Rich was also attacking this week when a building in the center was struck, leaving four people dead.

Earlier on Friday, the Russian drone hit the northeastern city of Kharkov took five more lives.

France and the United Kingdom have accused Russia of dragging their feet on a peace deal in Ukraine. The United Kingdom Foreign Minister David Lamie told reporters at the NATO Summit in Brussels that the Russian leader “may accept the cessation of fire now, (but) he continues to bomb Ukraine, his civil population.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Russians know the American position, “and we will find out in our answers very soon whether they are seriously involved in real peace or whether it is a delay tactic.”

Kryvyi Rih is about 40 miles (70 km) from the front line in eastern Ukraine and with a population of 600,000 is thought to be the largest city in Europe.