Missiles hit Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown as Ukraine claims retaliatory strike

A missile attack on the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky killed at least 10 people, marking the latest escalation in Russia’s full-scale offensive as Ukraine’s military claimed its first advance in its southeastern counteroffensive.

“More terrorist missiles, Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people,” Zelensky said of overnight attacks in Krivi Rih on Tuesday. His posts on social media included video footage showing the five-storey apartment building On fire and bombed cars in the central industrial city.

“Terrorists will never be forgiven, and they will be held accountable for every missile they launch,” Zelensky said.

Following an early spring lull, Russia has stepped up its airstrikes campaign, targeting Ukrainian energy networks and other civilian infrastructure. Kiev was again targeted in Tuesday’s barrage, but Serhiy Popko, head of the capital’s military administration, said all incoming projectiles had been intercepted by air-defense systems.

Ukraine’s air force said Russian forces fired at least 14 cruise missiles early Tuesday, 11 of which were intercepted by defenses with one of several “kamikaze” drones.

In a video post from the bombed building, Kryviy Rih mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram that six missiles were fired at his city by “Russian beasts”, a term Ukrainians often use to compare Russians to Nazis. “Five locations were hit, none of which are military targets.”

A storage facility that holds consumer products was also affected, Wilkul said, later saying that at least 10 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Rescue teams are racing to pull out people trapped under the debris.

For nearly 16 months since Moscow launched its offensive, Ukraine, its Western backers and human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Russian military of indiscriminately attacking civilian buildings and public infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown on video Monday accusing Ukraine’s military of carrying out targets in the occupied eastern city of Donetsk — without providing evidence of the attacks.

“I cannot understand in any way why the enemy is attacking residential areas,” he said at a ceremony in the Kremlin. “For what? Why? What’s the matter? (They are hitting) obviously humanitarian facilities. What does this mean? There is no military point, there is none,” he said with a grin on his face.

Tuesday’s attacks came days after Ukraine’s military made its first modest gains in a fresh counteroffensive aimed at liberating about 18 percent of territory held by Russian forces in the country’s eastern and southern regions.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said late on Monday that troops had liberated seven villages captured in the initial phase of the counteroffensive.

These include Neskuchne, Blahodtne, Storozhev and Makarivka in the southern regions of the eastern Donetsk region. Levadne and Novodarivka, two villages in the adjacent southern Zaporizhzhya region that have been occupied by Russian forces since the beginning of last year, were also liberated, as well as Lobkov, a village located to the west near the Dnieper River.