Ukraine war briefing: Russian missile attack in Zelenskyy’s home town kills 18
www.theguardian.com
Sat, 05 Apr 2025 04:50:31 +0300
Nine children among the dead in strike on Kryvyi Rih residential area as Kyiv says Moscows claim it targeted military gathering is false.
What we know on day 1,137See all our RussiaUkraine war coverageA Russian missile strike killed at least 18 people, including nine children, in a residential area of Ukraines central city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, local officials said one of Moscows deadliest attacks this year in the war.
The strike in President Volodymyr Zelenskyys home town damaged residential blocks and sparked fires, the regional governor said on Telegram.
More than 30 people, including a threemonthold baby, were in hospital, Serhiy Lysak said.
At least 50 people were wounded, the emergency services said, adding that the figure was growing.
Zelenskyy said rescue efforts were still under way and called on the west to exert greater pressure on Moscow.
All Russian promises end with missiles, drones, bombs or artillery, he said in his nightly video address.
Diplomacy means nothing to them.Russias defence ministry said the strike on Kryvyi Rih was targeted at a military gathering, a claim the Ukrainian military denounced as false information.
The missile struck a residential area with a playground, the militarys general staff said on Telegram.
The citys military administrator said after the strike that Russian drones had later attacked private homes there, triggering fires at four sites.
Oleksandr Vilkul said an elderly woman had died in her home and five others were injured.The US secretary of state said Donald Trump was not going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations with Russia over Ukraine, adding Washington would know within weeks whether Moscow was serious about pursuing peace.
Were testing to see if the Russians are interested in peace, Marco Rubio told journalists in Brussels on Friday after talks with Nato allies.
Their actions not their words, their actions will determine whether theyre serious or not, and we intend to find that out sooner rather than later.
Pjotr Sauer reports that Rubio also appeared to strike a more sympathetic tone towards Kyiv, saying the Ukrainians have shown a willingness to enter, for example, into a complete ceasefire.The Kremlin said on Friday that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had no plans to talk after a visit to Washington by the Russian presidents investment envoy as wider negotiations over a Ukraine truce appeared stalled.
According to NBC News on Thursday, Trumps inner circle was advising him not to speak to Putin again until the Russian leader commits to a full ceasefire in Ukraine.Ukraine and Russia accused each other of fresh attacks on energy infrastructure, in breach of a USbrokered moratorium.
Zelenskyy said Moscow launched a drone attack on a thermal power plant in Ukraines southern city of Kherson on Friday, while Russias defence ministry accused Kyiv of attacking Russian energy facilities six times in the past 24 hours.Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that European military planners could be ready within a month with details of a foreign troop contingent in Ukraine seen as critical to ending the war with Russia.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv after meeting British and French military chiefs, the Ukrainian president said many other countries would also contribute to the effort, which envisages foreign troops patrolling Ukrainian land, sea and airspace.
I think the teams need about a month, no longer, and we will be fully ready with an understanding of this infrastructure.The Vaticans foreign minister spoke with his Russian counterpart on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine and plans to stop the fighting, the Vatican said.
Russias foreign ministry later said the phone call between Sergey Lavrov and Archbishop Paul Gallagher had been initiated by the Vatican and that they had discussed ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis with the obligatory reliable elimination of its root causes.
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