Russia kills 19, including 9 children, in missile strike on Kryvyi Rih
Russia launched a missile strike on a residential neighborhood in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on April 4, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 60, according to regional authorities.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhiy Lysak and head of the city’s defense council Oleksandr Vilkul confirmed the attack, which targeted a civilian area using an Iskander-M ballistic missile equipped with a cluster warhead.
Among the injured was a three-month-old baby, officials said. Two young boys, ages 5 and 8, were transported in critical condition to a hospital in Dnipro. Nearly 20 apartment buildings were damaged, along with six schools, a restaurant, and over 30 vehicles.
"Rescue operations at the strike sites have been completed," Vilkul reported early April 5.
Later updates confirmed that among the 18 killed were nine children. At least 40 of the wounded remain hospitalized.
The strike appeared to have been deliberately designed for maximum casualties, exploding mid-air to spread shrapnel over a wide area.
"The missile hit a residential neighborhood — a playground, regular streets. These are monsters, bastards — anyone capable of doing this," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address. "There are no words fit to describe these Russian scumbags."
Zelenskyy added that 14 people had initially been reported killed, including six children. Five apartment buildings were damaged in the attack.
"Every day, Russian strikes. Every day, people killed," he wrote. "There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn't want a ceasefire. And we can all see that. Every missile, every drone strike shows Russia wants only war. The end of this war depends entirely on the world's pressure on Russia, on strengthening Ukraine, on our air defenses and forces."
Zelenskyy urged the United States, Europe, and other global powers to act decisively: "They have enough power to force Russia to stop this terror."
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General's Office has opened a war crimes investigation under Article 438 of the country’s Criminal Code.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said police are documenting evidence of Russia’s war crimes. Firefighters extinguished blazes in garages and cars near the strike zone.
The head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said preliminary evidence suggests Russia used a cluster-armed ballistic missile, possibly an Iskander. He emphasized the strike was aimed specifically at killing as many civilians as possible.
First Lady Olena Zelenska reacted to the strike in a public statement.
"Dozens killed by Russia in just the past few weeks. And hundreds, thousands over the years," she said. "It is painful to live in a country someone is trying to destroy. But it is even more painful to live in a world where crimes against humanity no longer outrage — they become ‘normal.’ We don’t just need words of sympathy. Ukraine needs acts of compassion — before others do."
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink also condemned the attack, though once again without directly naming Russia.
The Ukrainian military dismissed Moscow’s false claim that it had struck a meeting of Ukrainian commanders and Western instructors. The General Staff confirmed that Russia had hit civilian targets using a ballistic missile with a cluster warhead, designed for mass human casualties.
The city declared April 7–9 as days of mourning for the victims of the April 4 attack.
Earlier in the evening, Kryvyi Rih came under massive drone bombardment. Shahed-type kamikaze drones caused fires in the city’s private sector, damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 42 out of 78 drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 22 drones missed their targets. In addition to Kryvyi Rih, areas hit included Kharkiv, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.
On April 2, another Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih killed four people and injured 17.
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