In the Russian attack on Zelensky's home city, 18 people, including children, died

According to officials in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people and the injuries of dozens more. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was born and raised in Kryvyi Rih, nine of the deceased were children. A ballistic missile, according to local officials, had struck a residential area. A video showed victims lying on the road and a large portion of a 10-story apartment building that had been destroyed, while images showed at least one victim lying in a playground. Russia's defence ministry later claimed a "high-precision missile strike" had targeted a meeting of "unit commanders and Western instructors" in a restaurant, and that up to 85 were killed.  There was no evidence in it. One of the deadliest attacks on Kryvyi Rih since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the early Friday evening attack comes as US President Donald Trump calls for a ceasefire. Zelensky wrote on social media that at least five buildings had been damaged in Friday's strike: "There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn't want a ceasefire, and we see it."

 Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih's defense, stated that a residential area was struck. "The missile exploded in the air... to injure more people," he said.  "Children were killed on a playground or near one." Serhii Lysak, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region where Kryvyi Rih is located, said more than 40 people were treated for wounds, and the youngest was only three months old.

 Further explosions were reported by Vilkul later on Friday, who stated that the city was the target of a "massive" drone attack that had set off fires in at least four locations. Whether there were any casualties in that attack was not immediately known. The British and French military chiefs met with Zelensky earlier in the day in Kyiv to talk about plans for foreign peacekeepers to be stationed in Ukraine as part of a possible ceasefire deal. However, there has been little indication of an increase in the violence. Kryvyi Rih also came under attack earlier this week when a building in the centre was struck, leaving four people dead.

 On Thursday, Russian drone strikes on the north-eastern city of Kharkiv claimed another five lives, local officials said.

 Russia has been accused of dragging its feet on the peace deal for Ukraine by the UK and France. UK Foreign Minister David Lammy told reporters at a Nato summit in Brussels that the Russian leader "could accept a ceasefire now, [but] he continues to bombard Ukraine, its civilian population".

 "We will know from their answers very soon whether they are serious about proceeding with real peace or whether it is a delay tactic," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated. Kryvyi Rih, which has a population of 600,000 and is said to be the longest city in Europe, is located approximately 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the front line in eastern Ukraine.