On Friday, a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih, a city of central Ukraine, killed at least 16 people, including six children, and wounded more than 50, said local officials. It was the last of a series of Russian attacks on urban centers in the last few days, despite the continuous interviews of ceased fire, which have caused significant civil victims.
Serhii Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, which includes Kryvyi Rih, said on social media that the missile hit a residential neighborhood, with a playground nearby. Other officials warned that the victims’ balance could increase while the rescuers continued to look for rubble for the victims.
On Friday the Russian Ministry of Defense recognized the missile strike on Kryvyi Rih. He claimed that the missile had targeted a restaurant where Ukrainian commanders and western military instructors met, killing a total of 85 soldiers.
Moscow has long affirmed that it only aims only to military objectives, although the Russian strikes directed on civil areas and structures have often been documented by journalists and independent organizations.
Friday’s attack came when Russia seemed to have increased its attacks on civil areas in recent weeks. Even Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, was hit on Wednesday in an attack that killed four people. Thursday, a Russian drone attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv also killed four people, according to the mayor of the city.
The number of civil victims could not be verified independently.
The unusually tall toll on Friday comes when both countries have engaged in negotiations of ceased the fire aimed in part to reduce the impact of the war on civilians. So far Ukrainian and Russia have committed themselves to stopping the attacks on energy infrastructures and in the Black Sea, but these braids have yet to be implemented, with both sides that accuse each other’s affair.
The beginning of the negotiations of ceased the fire in mid -February raised the hopes that the fights would be facilitated, since both sides aimed to demonstrate to the United States, the mediator, who were willing to commit and reach an agreement. But the war raged tirelessly.
A series of Ukrainian cities, many of which are far from the first -line lines, have undergone fatal strikes. A large attack of Russian drones in Kiev, the capital, killed three civilians at the end of last month, hours before the interviews mediated by the United States to discuss a partial fire in Saudi Arabia.
In the meantime, Ukraine has also continued its assaults, also by launching drones within Russia.
In a post on social media, Mr. Zelensky said that Friday’s attack was proof that “Russia does not want a fire and see it”.
Mr. Zelensky echoed to a widespread feeling in Ukraine that the Kremlin has undertaken negotiations of ceased fire as an empty show of good will for curry with the White House, but has no intention of stopping the fighting.
Initially Ukraine had agreed a ceased for the fire of 30 days unconditional to stop all the fighting. But Russia rejected the proposal and instead suggested a more limited truce focused on the Black Sea and on energy infrastructures, which Ukraine accepted last week.
Since then, both sides have accused each other from attacking their respective energy systems. Moscow requested the revocation of economic sanctions before a truce at sea has an effect, effectively freezing its implementation.
The Trump administration seems to have tired of the negotiations of ceased fire.
On Friday, the United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Journalists in Brussels that Russia was running out of time to convince the Trump administration that it was serious about a peace agreement with Ukraine.
“We are testing to see if the Russians are interested in peace,” added Rubio. “Their actions – not their words, their actions – will determine whether they are serious or not, and we intend to find out first rather than after.”
The images of the consequences of the attack on Friday, published by Mr. Zelensky, showed bodies lying on the grass of what seemed to be a playground, some covers of rescue blankets. Around the playground, the tops of the trees had been torn and building windows crushed by the explosion.
Olena Zelenska, Zelensky’s wife, has published a long and emotional message on social media after the attack, indicating the series of recent Russian strikes who killed civilians.
“”What is going on in Ukraine? Is it quieter now? We heard something about a fire, “foreigners ask, far from the war,” he wrote.
“We also heard” something “, of course,” he continued. “Alarm sounds. The missile and drone approach. The screams and crying. We feel them even now. They are with us forever.”