Ukraine-Russia war live updates: Putin does not want ceasefire, Zelensky says after 19 killed in attack on hometown – UK Times

President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the attack on Kryvyi Rih.

“A Russian missile struck an ordinary city, directly hitting a street in an area with residential buildings. Preliminary reports suggest it was a ballistic missile strike.

“As of now, 14 fatalities have been confirmed, including six children. My condolences to their families and loved ones. The rescue operation is ongoing, at least five residential buildings have been damaged.

“Russian strikes occur every day. People die every day. There is only one reason why this continues: Russia doesn’t want a ceasefire, and we see it. The whole world sees it.

“Each missile, every attack drone proves that Russia seeks only war. And only the world’s pressure on Russia, all efforts to strengthen Ukraine, our air defense, and our forces—can determine when the war will end.

“The United States, Europe, and the rest of the world have the capacity to force Russia to abandon terror and war. And this must be ensured—peace is needed.”

With limited numbers of foot soldiers to take on Russia, Ukraine has branched out into a revolutionary new treatment for its traumatised and damaged troops – ketamine, writes world affairs editor Sam Kiley from Kyiv.

Following a deadly attack on Kryvyi Rih, local authorities have declared three days of mourning from Monday to Wednesday to commemorate those who were killed in the attack.

Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of Kryvyi Rih City Defence Council, said: “Children, families, the elderly… Ballistic missile and Shahed drone attacks on residential areas and playgrounds… This is nothing more than a massacre of civilians.

“We will always remember each and every one of those who were killed. This is our shared tragedy and pain.”

Ukraine has hit back after Russia claimed that its attack on Kryvyi Rih was a targeted military gathering.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Telegram that the strike had been “high-precision” in targeting a “meeting of unit commanders and Western instructors” in a city restaurant.

“As a result of the strike, enemy losses total up to 85 servicemen and officers of foreign countries, as well as up to 20 vehicles,” the ministry said on Telegram.

The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said Moscow was “again spreading false information”.

“Through this latest violation of the norms of international human rights, the insidious enemy shows that it is in no way seeking peace but rather intends to continue its invasion and war to destroy Ukraine and all Ukrainians,” it said.

The strike on Zelensky’s hometown has been one of Moscow’s deadliest so far this year in the conflict as 19 people, including nine children have died.

An industrial facility in Russia’s Volga river region of Mordovia was hit by a drone strike early on Saturday, the region’s governor said in a statement on Telegram.

Governor Artyom Zdunov said that emergency services were at the scene of the strike on the facility, which he did not name, and that there had been no casualties.

Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement, said the target had been an optical fibre factory in the city of Saransk, 820km (510 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Germany has been paying for Ukraine’s access to a satellite-internet network operated by France’s Eutelsat, as Europe continues to seek out alternatives to Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Eutelsat chief executive Eva Berneke said to Reuters that the company has provided its high-speed satellite internet service to Ukraine for about a year via a German distributor.

She said it was funded by the German government but did not say how much it cost.

There are fewer than a thousand terminals connecting users in Ukraine to Eutelssat’s network, which is a small fraction compared to the approximate 50,000 Starlink terminals Ukraine says it has.

The figures are expected to rise as the company seems to get between 5,000 and 10,000 there “within weeks”.

Starlink has been used extensively by Ukraine’s military.

Musk previously said that Starlink was the “backbone of the Ukrainian army” and that “their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off”.

Ukraine’s armed forces continue to control a sizable chunk of the Kursk region in Russia, despite the Kremlin’s efforts to push them out, said a top US general.

US Army general Christopher Cavoli, commander of the United States European Command, said that Ukrainian forces had also entered the nearby Belgorod region, expanding their presence on Russian territory.

He said during a congressional hearing on Thursday: “There is a sizable force holding a sizable — diminished, but sizable — chunk of ground inside Russia’s Kursk Oblast right now. And they’re holding on very good defensive terrain south of there in Belgorod.”

“The Ukrainians, a couple of weeks ago, pushed a smaller counteroffensive back into Russia [in Belgorod]. So, we still have a back and forth going up in that area.”