Death toll from Russian strike on Zelenskyy's home town rises as 18 confirmed dead - including nine children
by Emma Soteriou · LBCBy Emma Soteriou
The death toll from Russia's strike on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home town has increased to 18 - including nine children.
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A further 61 people were injured in Friday's attack in Kryvyi Rih, ranging from a three-month-old baby to elderly residents.
Forty remain in hospital, including two children in critical condition and 17 in serious condition.
"There can never be forgiveness for this," said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defence council. "Eternal memory to the victims."
After the strike on the city, local leader Serhii Lysak said the invasion was a "fight against civilians".
It followed a drone attack late Thursday on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, that killed five civilians.
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"The missile struck an area right next to residential buildings - hitting a playground and ordinary streets," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Local authorities said the strike damaged about 20 apartment buildings, more than 30 vehicles, an educational building and a restaurant.
"Now, I think it is obvious who wants peace and who wants war," Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said at a Nato meeting in Brussels, referring to the Kharkiv strike.
"We must get Russia serious about peace. We must pressure Russia into peace."
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Friday that it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting of unit commanders and western instructors was taking place.
The strike killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles, the Russian military claimed.
The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the claims.
Russia has effectively rejected a US proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting, and the UK and French foreign ministers on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks to halt Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine.
"Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet," Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at Nato headquarters, standing alongside French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that Russia's real intentions in the negotiations will become clear within weeks.
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"We will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it's a delay tactic," Mr Rubio told reporters. "Now we've reached the stage where we need to make progress."
A Kremlin envoy who visited Washington this week for talks with Trump administration officials said on Friday that further meetings would be needed to resolve outstanding issues.
Kirill Dmitriev told Russian reporters that "the dialogue will take some time, but it's proceeding positively and constructively".