Nine killed, 29 injured, in Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih

Five children among those hurt after missile hit an apartment block in latest attack on Ukrainian president’s hometown.

Nine people have been killed and 29 injured, including five children, after a Russian ballistic missile struck an apartment building in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Klymenko confirmed the toll on Wednesday evening after recovery work ended at the site.

Photos shared by the emergency services showed rescue teams clambering over piles of rubble and timber to help the injured and the dead.

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

Kryvyi Rih, in southern Ukraine, is Zelenskyy’s hometown.

He posted video footage from the scene of the attack showing rescue workers looking for survivors in the ruins and renewed his appeal for Ukraine’s allies to step up deliveries of sophisticated air defence systems to ward off Russian air attacks.

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

“Modern air defence systems can provide maximum protection for people, our cities and our positions. And we need them as much as possible,” Zelenskyy said.

About 635,000 people lived in Kryvyi Rih before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The city has come under regular attack during the conflict.

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