Sawt Falasteen - Russian strike kills 18 in Ukrainian president's home city

The missile struck a residential area near a children's playground and wounded more than two dozen others, according to the head of the city's military administration.

Unverified videos on social media appeared to show bodies lying on a street, while another showed a plume of smoke rising into the evening sky.

"18... that is how many people were killed by the Russians when they launched a missile at Kryvyi Rig. Among them were nine children," Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Sergiy Lysak said on Telegram.

He said 61 people were injured in the attack, among them 12 children.

"This is the kind of pain you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy," Lysak added.

Russia's Ministry of Defence said it "delivered a precision strike with a high-explosive missile at a restaurant" in the city "where commanders of formations and Western instructors were meeting".

In separate drone attack on Kryvyi Rig, Lysak said one additional person was killed and three others injured.

US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a speedy end to the more than three-year war since taking office, but his administration has failed to broker a ceasefire despite talks with both sides.

Zelensky said the attack showed Russia had no interest in stopping its full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022.

"There is only one reason why this continues -- Russia does not want a ceasefire and we see it. The whole world sees it," he said.

The Ukrainian leader was born in Kryvyi Rig, an industrial city which had a pre-war population of around 600,000 people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a joint US-Ukrainian proposal for an unconditional and full ceasefire in March, while the Kremlin has made a US-proposed truce in the Black Sea dependent on the West lifting certain sanctions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier on Friday that Trump was not "going to fall into the trap of endless negotiations" with Russia over the invasion.

"We will know soon enough, in a matter of weeks, not months, whether Russia is serious about peace or not," he said.

- 'War crime' -

Kryvyi Rig, in Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region, is about 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the front line, and has regularly been targeted by Russian drones and missiles.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration, said the missile landed near a children's playground.

Five apartment buildings were damaged, interior minister Igor Klymenko said.

He said police had blocked off the area to maintain order.

"The police are documenting the consequences of Russia's war crime and accepting statements from the victims," Klymenko added.

Social media video from the scene showed a car in flames, while people could be heard shouting.

Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian official tasked with countering disinformation, described the missile involved in the attack as an "Iskander".

The Iskander is a Russian ballistic missile system that can have a range of up to 500 kilometres (311 miles).

"This is a deliberate strike to kill a large number of people," Kovalenko said.

Zelensky accused Russia of regarding diplomacy as an "empty word" in his evening address.

"A ceasefire could have been reached by now and it is Putin who rejects it," he said.

Y.Zaher--SF-PST