Children among the 16 killed in Russian attacks in Ukraine

Children were among the casualties of a Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Friday, April 4, 2025.

According to Ukranian officials, the attack killed 16 people and left dozens wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who grew up in Kryvyi Rih disclosed that six of the dead were children.

The head of the city’s defence, Oleksandr Vilkul, said a ballistic missile had landed in a residential area.

Images showed at least one victim lying in a playground.

A video on the otherhand showed a large section of a 10-storey block of flats destroyed and victims lying on the road.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had targeted a meeting of a military unit and “officers of foreign countries”.

It gave casualty figures as up to 85 died. However, it provided no evidence.

The attack, early on Friday evening, was among the deadliest on Kryvyi Rih since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

It comes as US President Donald Trump pushes for a ceasefire.

Zelensky wrote on social media that at least five buildings had been damaged in Friday’s strike:

“There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn’t want a ceasefire, and we see it.”

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

Military chiefs from both the UK and France met Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday to discuss plans for foreign peacekeepers to be stationed in Ukraine.

The said plan is part of a potential ceasefire deal.

But there has been little sign of a let-up in the violence.

Kryvyi Rih also came under attack earlier this week when a building in the centre was struck, leaving four people dead.

Earlier on Friday, Russian drone strikes on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv claimed another five lives.

France and the UK have accused Russia of dragging its feet on the Ukraine peace deal.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy told reporters at a Nato summit in Brussels that the Russian leader “could accept a ceasefire now, [but] he continues to bombard Ukraine, its civilian population”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Russians knew the American position.

According to him, they will know from the answers of the Russians very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it is a delay tactic.

According to the BBC, Kryvyi Rih is about 40 miles (70km) from the front line in eastern Ukraine.

It has a population of 600,000 it is reputed to be the longest city in Europe.

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