Ukraine’s president slams US for ‘weak’ response after Russia’s previous deadly attack on his hometown, Kryvyi Rih.
Several people have been wounded in Russian air raids on Kyiv as well as the south of Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the United States for a “weak” reaction to the attack on his hometown that killed 18 people, including nine children.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the air attacks on the capital early on Sunday caused fires in nonresidential buildings in three districts and left three people injured.
Separately, Vitaliy Kim, governor of the southern Mykolaiv region, said Russia launched a missile attack at about 10pm (19:00 GMT) on Saturday, damaging several houses and injuring four people.
The entire country was under air alert from 02:00 GMT after the country’s air force warned of an attack, including on regions bordering Poland, forcing the NATO member to scramble aircraft to ensure air safety.
Poland’s military said it and allied forces had taken to the skies “due to the intensive activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation” across the border in western Ukraine, with ground-based air defence systems on high alert.
“The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.”
Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 13 of 23 missiles and 40 of 109 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, the air force said on Sunday. It said 53 drones were lost, in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said 11 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed overnight over the Kursk, Belgorod and Rostov regions.
Attack on Kryvyi Rih
On Friday, a Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih killed at least 18 people, including children as young as three.
The Russian missile struck a residential area near a playground in the central Ukrainian city.
In an emotional statement on social media, Zelenskyy named each of the nine children killed in the attack on his birthplace, slamming the US embassy for what he called a “weak” statement.
US Ambassador Bridget Brink had posted a message on X on Friday, saying she was “horrified” by the attack, without naming Russia as the aggressor.
“Unfortunately, the reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih’s military administration, said three days of mourning had been declared starting April 7.
The attacks came as US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, more than three years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy said the assault on Kryvyi Rih showed Russia had no interest in peace.