Zelensky slams ‘weak’ American response to Russian strike in his hometown

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday threw the US embassy for what he called a “weak” statement that did not accused Russia of a missile strike in his hometown that killed 18 people, including nine children.

In one of the deadliest strikes in recent weeks, a Russian missile on Friday night hit a residential area near a children’s playground in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

Seventy-seventh people were injured, 12 of them children, Dniprovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said after the end of emergency operations overnight, where the city’s officials declared three days of grief.

Zelensky in an emotional statement on social media named each of the children killed in the attack and accused the US embassy of avoiding referring to Russia as aggressor.

“Unfortunately, the reaction of the US Embassy is uncomfortably surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,” Zelensky wrote.

“They are even afraid to say the word ‘Russian’ when they talk about the missile that killed the children.”

Zelensky appointed the United States for criticism at a time when US President Donald Trump is pushing for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine while seeking a thaw in ties with Moscow.

‘Spade a spade’

The Ukrainian president aimed at US Ambassador Bridget Brink after she sent a message about X Friday night saying, “Varried that tonight hit a ballistic missile near a playground and restaurant.”

Brink, who was appointed by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and has been an ambassador since May 2022, added that “this is the reason why the war must end.”

Zelensky wrote on Saturday: “Yes, the war must end. But to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade.”

“It is wrong and dangerous to keep silent on the fact that it is Russia that kills children with ballistic missiles,” Zelensky repeated in his evening address.

“It only encourages the scoop of Moscow to continue the war and further ignore diplomacy.”

The Ukrainian leader was born in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, who had a population before the war of about 600,000 people.

Located in Ukraine’s central DNIPROPROVSKEGIION, it is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the front line and has been regularly targeted by Russian drones and missiles.

Zelensky said the children who were killed by the latest attack varied in the age of a three-year-old boy, Tymofiy, to a 17-year-old teenage boy, Nikita.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the leader of Kryvyi Rih’s military administration, said that three days of grief had been declared on April 7, 8 and 9.

“This is nothing less than a mass murder of civilians,” he said.

Pictures circulated by rescue services showed several bodies, one stretched out near a playground swing.

“This is the kind of pain you wouldn’t wish for your worst enemy,” Lysak said.

The Ministry of Russia said it “delivered a precision strike” in the city “where commanders of formations and western instructors met.”

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army reiterated that Moscow “tried to cover his cynical crime” and “spread false information.” It accused Russia of “war crimes.”

‘Not human’

Trump, who said during his re -election campaign that he could end the three -year conflict within days, pushes the two sides to accept a ceasefire, but his administration has failed to mediate a compliance that is acceptable to both.

Zelensky said the missile attack showed that 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, adding that after the missile strike launched Moscow attacked drones “just below the rescue operation” and “a person more dead.”

“People who are capable of that kind of thing are not human,” Zelensky said.

The president paid tribute to “tangible progress” after meeting British and French military managers in Kyiv Friday to discuss a plan from London and Paris to send a “insurance” force to Ukraine if and when an agreement to end the conflict has reached.

Zelensky wrote on social media that the meeting with British chief of defense staff Tony Radakin and French colleague Thierry Burkhard agreed on “the first details of how the parties’ security quota can be implemented,” without giving details.

This is one of the latest efforts from European leaders to agree on a coordinated policy after Trump sidelined them and opened direct conversations with the Kremlin.