By Agence France-Presse
A missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Sunday, April 6, injured at least three people and caused several blazes, the city’s mayor said, two days after a Russian strike killed 18 people in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown.
Vitali Klitschko said paramedics had been sent to two districts in Kyiv, while the Ukrainian air force said missiles had entered the northern Chernihiv region.
“Explosions in the capital. Air defense is in operation…the missile attack on Kyiv continues. Stay in shelters!” Klitschko said on Telegram.
He added that three people were injured so far, while fires broke out in non-residential buildings and eight cars were damaged.
The attacks come as US President Donald Trump pushes for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, more than three years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion, and seeks a thaw in ties with the Kremlin.
Poland’s military said it and allied forces had taken to the skies in response to Russian strikes across the border in western Ukraine, with ground-based air defense systems on high alert.
“Due to the intensive activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, performing strikes on objects located, among others, in the west of Ukraine, the operation of Polish and allied aviation in our airspace has begun,” its operational command said on X.
“The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.”
Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that its air defense units had intercepted and destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones.
‘Weak reaction’
On Saturday (April 5), Zelensky slammed the U.S. embassy for what he called a “weak” statement that did not blame Russia for the deadly missile strike on his home city, Kryvyi Rig, which struck a residential area near a children’s playground in central Ukraine.
In an emotional statement on social media, Zelensky named each of the nine children killed in the attack, accusing the US embassy of avoiding referring to Russia as the aggressor.
Zelensky said the children killed in the strike ranged in age from three to 17.
“Unfortunately, the reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly 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 talking about the missile that killed the children.”
The Ukrainian president took aim at the US Ambassador Bridget Brink after she posted a message on X on Friday (April 4) that said: “Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant.”
Zelensky said in his evening address: “It is wrong and dangerous to keep silent about the fact that it is Russia that is killing children with ballistic missiles. It only incites the ‘scum’ in Moscow to continue the war and further ignore diplomacy.”
Ukraine’s top brass was born in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rig, which had a pre-war population of around 600,000 people.
Talks with French, UK military chiefs
Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rig’s military administration, said three days of mourning had been declared on April 7, 8 and 9 (Monday-Wednesday).
“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.
Russia’s defence ministry said it “delivered a precision strike” in the city “where commanders of formations and Western instructors were meeting”.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian army retorted that Moscow was “trying to cover up its cynical crime” and “spreading false information”. It accused Russia of “war crimes”.
The POTUS is pushing the two sides to agree to a ceasefire but his administration has failed to broker an accord acceptable to both.
Zelensky said the missile attack showed Russia had no interest in stopping its full-scale invasion.
He hailed “tangible progress” after meeting British and French military chiefs in Kyiv on Friday (April 4) to discuss a plan by London and Paris to send a “reassurance” force to Ukraine if and when a deal on ending the conflict is reached.
Ukraine’s chief executive wrote on social media that the meeting with British Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin and French counterpart Thierry Burkhard agreed “the first details on how the security contingent of partners can be deployed.”
It is one of the latest efforts by European leaders to agree on a coordinated policy after Trump sidelined them and opened direct talks with the Kremlin.