At least 14 killed as Russian ballistic missiles strike Kryvyi Rih

Russian missiles targeted a residential neighbourhood with ballistic missiles on Friday in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least 14 people, including six children.

The head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, Serhii Lysak, said on his official channel on Telegram that more than 30 others were injured and are at medical facilities seeking treatment.

Among those injured were children, with the youngest being just three-months-old who suffered lacerations as a result of the attack.

Residents say some of those injured sustained critical wounds and describe the attack as terrifying.

“it started buzzing immediately and then exploded right away. I couldn’t manage to run anywhere, you see, I couldn’t even make it to the door. All the windows are shattered; it broke all the windows and the balcony,” said Nina, a resident who was injured in the attacks.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attacks and expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and injured in a post on his own Telegram channel.

“The rescue operation continues. At least five buildings have been damaged. Daily Russian strikes. Daily casualties. There is only one reason this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire, and we see this,” said Zelenskyy.

“The whole world sees this. Every missile, every attack drone proves that Russia only wants war. And only through global pressure on Russia, through all efforts to strengthen Ukraine, our air defence, and our forces, only through this will the war end,” he added.

Russian envoy praises Trump for acknowledging Russian concerns

The Kremlin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev told Russian reporters after his talks in Washington that he discussed normalising Russia-US relations in meetings with members of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

"What makes the Trump administration different is that they hear Russia's position and concerns, unlike the Biden administration," he said in televised remarks.

He added that the talks addressed “economic and investment questions, including the potential return of some US companies to Russia.

"We see that American companies want to come back to Russia and take niches left by European companies," he said.

"And we see that the EU ideological restrictions can allow US companies to take the niches where it's useful for Russia, of course."

Dmitriev noted that the restoration of direct flights between Russia and the United States were among the issues that were also discussed.

Dmitriev – who heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund – was sanctioned by the Biden administration after the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Restrictions were temporarily lifted by the Trump administration to allow him to travel to Washington this week.

Zelenskyy reacts to Russian envoy visit to Washington

Zelenskyy commented on Dmitriev’s visit to the US on Friday saying he believes the Russian envoy was in Washington to discuss ways to facilitate the release of Russian frozen assets.

"As for Dmitriev, we know the additional reasons why he was in the United States. In addition to that, he was not only the United States,” said Zelenskyy.

“We are monitoring the movements of our enemies and the main question is how to withdraw three hundred billion frozen assets? This is the main question."

The meetings come about six weeks after top officials from Moscow and Washington met in Saudi Arabia in the highest-level direct talks since 2022.