By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – A central Ukrainian city held vigils on Monday starting three days of mourning for 11 adults and nine children killed by a Russian missile last week, as one of deadliest attacks on civilians in months jeopardised Washington’s ceasefire push.
Friday evening’s strike on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s home city of Kryvyi Rih sprayed shrapnel across a dense residential area in what Ukraine’s military said was a cluster munitions attack.
“The use of an explosive weapon with wide area effects by the Russian Federation in a densely populated area – and without any apparent military presence – demonstrates a reckless disregard for civilian life,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said in a statement on Sunday.
Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said the strike was the deadliest of the war on Kryvyi Rih, an industrial centre with a pre-war population of around 600,000 that is regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones.
“Revenge will be inevitable, because this is a crime without a statute of limitations,” he wrote on social media.
The victims ranged from 3 to 79 years old, he said, adding that 33 people including 4 children were still being treated in hospital.
Local clergymen held a memorial service at a playground near the strike site, according to public broadcaster Suspilne, and separately residents bid farewell to a nine-year-old boy said to have been killed while playing on a swing.
Russia said with no public evidence that its strike had targeted a meeting of Ukrainian service members and foreign trainers and killed up to 85 of them, a claim rejected by Kyiv as disinformation.
“Even if the Russian authorities had had information that military personnel could be present, the mode and circumstances of attack may constitute an indiscriminate attack,” the U.N. rights office said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war, while reaching out to restore relations with Moscow after years in which the United States firmly backed Kyiv.
Russia rejected a U.S. proposal last month for a full ceasefire that Kyiv had agreed to. The warring sides then agreed to a limited pause to attacks on energy infrastructure which both accuse the other of violating.
White House officials are discussing the likelihood that Washington will be unable to secure a peace deal in the next few months.
(Editing by Peter Graff)
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