Cnn
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On Friday, a Russian missile attack against the birthplace of the Ukrainian president killed at least 19 people on Friday, including nine children, one of the deadliest strikes this year in a conflict that shows no sign of a rapid end despite a push for peace by the Trump administration.
Among the 72 injured, there was a baby as young as three months, the attack also damages dozens of buildings and six education institutes as well as stores and businesses, said Oleksandr Vilkul, mayor of Kryvyi Rih, on Telegram on Saturday, calling him a “tragic evening and night”.
“Another bloody crime was committed by the terrorist country. Rocket and massive Shahed attacks against residential areas and playgrounds,” said the mayor.
Russian troops struck Kryvyi Rih with a ballistic missile with a cluster warhead, which is “designed to strike a larger area and a larger number of people,” said the Ukrainian general staff.
The hometown of Zelensky has undergone a repeated Russian attack in recent months. A deadly strike earlier this month, killed four civilians in a taxi parking lot.
US President Donald Trump is committed to ending the conflict quickly but could not negotiate an agreement. The allies of Ukraine believe that Russia drags its feet on the negotiations as it tries to obtain an advantage on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to the families of people killed and injured in his night speech shortly after.
“Many injuries, damaged houses. The missile has actually hit the area next to residential buildings – a children’s playground, ordinary streets,” said Zelensky.
Russia also targeted a power plant in Kherson with a drone on Friday, Zelensky said.
“Such strikes cannot be a coincidence – the Russians know that it is an energy establishment,” said Zelensky. “These types of installations must be protected from any attack, in accordance with the promises that Russia has made on the American side.”
Zelensky criticized the United States after the country’s ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, wrote on X: “Horrified that this evening a ballistic missile struck near a playground and a restaurant in Kryvyi Rih. More than 50 people injured and 16 killed, including 6 children. That is why war must end.”
The Ukrainian chief condemned his answer, saying that the “reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people and such a weak reaction.”
He continued: “They are even afraid to say the word” Russian “by speaking of the missile that killed the children.”
In a statement on the telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike had targeted a meeting between the Ukrainian and Western officers, describing it as “a high precision strike … with a high missile on the site of a meeting with unit commanders and Western instructors in one of the restaurants of the city of Kryvyi Rih.”
“Following the strike, the enemy lost up to 85 soldiers and officers from foreign countries, as well as up to 20 vehicles,” said the post.
CNN contacted the Ukrainian authorities for more information.
This comes as little progress has been made on peace talks to end the Russian war in Ukraine. During last week, President Donald Trump’s frustration towards his Russian counterpart became clear. Trump said that he had recently been “annoyed” during a recent call with the Russian chief, who rejected Trump’s proposal for a full and immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and European leaders clearly indicated that they believed that Putin was in a stuck, believing that the time is for his part, while Trump and his envoy Steve Witkoff – who met Putin twice this year – insisted that Putin wanted a peace agreement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Friday that he had met an envoy for Putin this week and sent him back to Moscow with a message: the clock turns when it takes a breakthrough in peace talks to end the Ukraine war.
Rubio went twice in Saudi Arabia in the past two months for discussions with senior Russian and Ukrainian officials to try to launch negotiations on a cease-fire and a possible agreement to end the three-year war.
Now, however, progress must be made, said Rubio. “There cannot be any discussions on talks.”
Last week, after separate negotiations with Ukrainian and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, the White House said that the two parties had accepted an agreement on the United States to stop using force in the Black Sea while agreeing to implement a break previously announced against attacks against energy infrastructure.
However, Russia has responded by fixing additional conditions on the ceasefire in the Black Sea, including the lifting of the sanctions imposed on its banks and exports.
This story has been updated.