Eight dead in overnight Kremlin missile onslaught – as UK and US humanitarian helpers narrowly escape death in direct hit on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s targeted home town
Russia launched waves of deadly missile attacks on Ukraine overnight, killing eight, half of those killed in a direct hit on Kyiv President Volodymyr Zelenksy’s home town.
A strike on a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, where Zelensky grew up, killed four people, with US and UK aid volunteers miraculously surviving the hit having left the hotel. A further 31 people were also injured in the attack on the central Ukrainian town which has been frequently targeted by Kremlin strike teams.
The dead included three men and a woman and a 13 year-old girl was among those injured.
It came as the US suspended intelligence sharing and military aid with Ukraine in another devastating blow to Kyiv’s war effort. Many experts have warned Ukraine may only have a few months left of weapons stockpiles and is desperately in need of the US aid.
Trump is using the suspended provision of military help as leverage to force Zelensky to sign an unsafe minerals deal, without a US security backstop. President Zelensky said the humanitarian volunteers survived because they fled their rooms.
He said: “All night, a rescue operation continued in Kryvyi Rih at the site of a Russian missile strike. A ballistic missile struck an ordinary hotel. Just before the attack, volunteers from a humanitarian organisation – citizens of Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom – had checked into the hotel.
They survived because they managed to get down from their rooms in time. Unfortunately, four people were killed in this attack. My condolences to their families and loved ones.” He went on: “Rescue workers are still on-site, and all emergency services continue to operate.
Mr Zelensky, who is attempting to repair relations between Kyiv and US President Donald Trump’s administration after last week’s public row at the White House, condemned the attack. He said: “There must be no pause in the pressure on Russia to stop this war and terror against life.”
Kryvyi Rih came under attack in January in strikes that killed four. A civilian was killed in attacks on Donetsk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson, adding to the toll. Russia launched 112 drones overnight, the Ukrainian air force said on Telegram. They said 68 of the attacks were countered and 43 others failed to hit targets.
War in Ukraine started in February 2022 after weeks of Kremlin military manoeuvres on the border but the invasion was beaten back in counter-attacks by Kyiv’s troops.
Britain has played a key role in military supplies to Zelensky’s military. It has also trained hundred of troops for battle on the frontline and played host to Ukrainian families fleeing the bloodshed.
