Ukrainian President has criticized the US embassy for what he called a “weak” statement that did not blame .
In one of the deadliest strikes in recent weeks, a missile on Friday evening struck a residential area near a children’s playground in the central Ukrainian town of Kryvyi Rih, killing 18 people, including nine children. It was followed up by attack drones.
Seventy-two people were wounded, 12 of them children, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Sergiy Lysak said. City officials declaring three days of mourning.
In an emotional statement on social media, Zelenskyy named each of the children killed in the attack, accusing the US embassy of avoiding referring to 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. “They are even afraid to say the word ‘Russian’ when talking about the missile that killed the children.”
The Ukrainian president took aim at a message posted on X by US Ambassador Bridget Brink on Friday evening, which said: “Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant”.
Brink, who was appointed by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, has been ambassador since May 2022, added that “this is why the war must end.”
In response, Zelenskyy wrote: “Yes, the war must end. But in order to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade.”
He added the missile attack showed Russia had no interest in stopping its full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022.
“Russia does not want a ceasefire and we see it. The whole world sees it,” he said. “The missile struck an area near residential buildings, a playground and ordinary streets.”
Attack drones were then launched “right during the rescue operation.” Zelenskyy added: “People who are capable of that kind of thing aren’t human.”
Russia’s defence ministry said it “delivered a precision strike with a high-explosive missile on a restaurant” in the city “where commanders of formations and Western instructors were meeting”.
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