On 4 April, Russia fired an Iskander-M ballistic missile at Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The attack killed at least 18 people and wounded 61, the Kyiv Independent reported.
According to Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration, the strike struck a residential neighborhood, setting fire to buildings and causing serious damage. Among the dead were nine children. A playground was located near the site of the attack.
More than 40 people remain in hospital, including a three-month-old boy with stab wounds.
Ukraine's General Staff said in the early hours of 5 April that Russia was "trying to cover up its cynical crime by lying about the strike on 'the place where commanders of the Ukrainian armed forces met with Western instructors'".
Shortly after the attack, the Russian defence ministry reported that up to 85 military and foreign personnel had been killed and 20 vehicles destroyed in the strike in Krivoy Rog.
"We declare that Russia is again spreading false information," Ukraine's General Staff said. "The missile struck a residential area and a playground."
President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the attack, adding that Ukraine experiences "Russian strikes every day. Every day people are killed. There is only one reason for this to continue: Russia does not want a ceasefire and we see it. The whole world sees it".
Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky's hometown, remains a frequent target of Russian missile strikes. The city, with a population of about 660,000, is the second largest in the Dnipropetrovsk region and is located about 70 km from the front line. | BGNES
