Nine dead and 29 injured in Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih | News on the Russia-Ukraine war

Five children were among those injured when a rocket hit a block of flats in the recent attack on the Ukrainian president’s hometown.

Nine people were killed and 29 injured, including five children, when a Russian ballistic missile hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Klymenko confirmed the number of victims on Wednesday evening after rescue operations at the site were completed.

Photos shared by emergency services showed rescue teams climbing over piles of rubble and wood to rescue the injured and dead.

“Every day and every hour, Russian terror proves that Ukraine, together with its partners, must strengthen its air defenses,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after the attack.

Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine is Zelenskyy’s hometown.

He released video footage from the scene showing rescue workers searching for survivors in the rubble and renewed his appeal to Ukraine’s allies to supply more sophisticated air defense systems to ward off Russian air attacks.

The United States has agreed to supply another Patriot missile system, two US officials said late Tuesday in Washington. Aid to Ukraine is a key topic at the annual summit of the Group of Seven (G7), which begins in Italy on Thursday.

“Modern air defense systems can provide maximum protection to people, our cities and our positions. And we need them as often as possible,” said Zelensky.

Before Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, about 635,000 people lived in Kryvyi Rih.

During the conflict, the city was regularly attacked.

It is located in the southern industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk, where authorities said three people, including a 13-year-old boy, were injured in a Russian drone attack on Wednesday.