Zelensky criticizes US official response to Putin’s strike on his hometown as Russian missiles and drones kill 19, including nine children

President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned the US’s ‘weak’ response to a deadly Russian ballistic missile strike that killed 19 Ukrainians. 

The death toll from Friday’s attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih included nine children.

A further 61 people were injured while forty remain hospitalised.

 Zelensky thanked his allies for their support following the deadly strike, but blasted the response of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv.

Ambassador Bridget A. Brink had posted on social media Friday that she was ‘horrified’ by the strike in Kryvyi Rih. 

‘This is why the war must end,’ the post said. 

Zelensky, who previously had a difficult relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump, expressed his surprise at a post that he found unpleasant because it did not explicitly blame Russia for the attack.

He criticized the lack of direct accusation towards Russia, stating that it seemed like a strong country and people were responding weakly, even hesitating to mention Russia in connection to the missile attack that resulted in the deaths of children.

 He went on to praise countries including Japan, Britain, Switzerland and Germany for their ‘principled statements.’

‘Yes, the war must end. But in order to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade,’ he said. 

Russian forces launched 92 drones into Ukraine overnight, with 51 shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian air force wrote on social media Saturday.

Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Pictures and videos posted online showed bodies of the dead and wounded lying on the pavement as grey smoke rose into the sky. 

Among the dead was tragic boy, ‘Timofiyko’, aged three.

In video footage, Zelensky is seen being carried away from a location near a playground struck by a Russian missile while rescuers attempted to revive him during the night.

At the time of the explosion, he and his grandmother were returning home from the playground.

His mother Valeria ran outside to her family to witness the hell from Putin’s attack.

There was hope he could be saved – but he died from wounds sustained in the brutal strike.

‘Timofiyko was a very energetic child, he was passionate about space and space rockets,’ said his distraught mother as she shared pictures of her beloved child.

‘He really loved collecting ladybugs and various beetles.’

Also among the dead in Putin’s terror strike was mother Vita Holovko, 50, while her son Matviy, eight, is in intensive care.

Ukrainian sources say the Iskander-M missile had a high-explosive fragmentation warhead.

A further 61 people were injured in Friday’s attack, ranging from a three-month-old baby to elderly residents.

Forty remain hospitalized, including two children in critical condition and 17 in serious condition.

Other videos show rescuers recovering the bodies of those killed in the attack, while firefighters rush to put out the flames.

‘There can never be forgiveness for this,’ said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defense council. ‘Eternal memory to the victims.’

Rescue workers toiled through the night with flashlights in Kryvyi Rih, moving around wrecked cars, buildings with shattered windows and a gaping crater. 

Using their mobile phones for light, some people registered at help centres.

‘There were dead children lying there, crying parents, it was horrible,’ Yulia, 47, told Reuters as she surveyed the damaged blinds, fixtures and furniture in her apartment.

‘The missile struck an area right next to residential buildings — hitting a playground and ordinary streets,’ Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

The strike on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown was one of Moscow’s deadliest this year in the conflict, launched with the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Local authorities said the strike damaged about 20 apartment buildings, more than 30 vehicles, an educational building and a restaurant.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday that it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting with unit commanders and Western instructors was taking place.

Russian military claimed that the strike killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. 

The military’s claims could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the claims.

A later drone strike on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and wounded seven other people.

Zelensky blamed the daily strikes on Russia’s unwillingness to end the war: ‘Every missile, every drone strike proves Russia wants only war,’ he said, urging Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow and bolster Ukraine’s air defenses.

‘The United States, Europe, and the rest of the world have enough power to make Russia abandon terror and war,’ he said.

Russia denies targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed and injured in the invasion.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said the attack showed that Russia ‘is in no way seeking peace, but rather intends to continue its invasion and war to destroy Ukraine and all Ukrainians.’

On Friday, each side accused the other again of flouting the energy-infrastructure ceasefire.

Russia’s Defence Ministry accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities six times in the past 24 hours.

It comes as U.S. President, who took office in January after pledging he would end the war in 24 hours, has sought to broker an end to the conflict. 

Washington said last week it had agreed with Russia and Ukraine two ceasefire accords, including one that would on each other’s energy infrastructure.