Key developments on April 5-6:
- Zelensky calls for tougher Western response after Russian missiles strike Kyiv.
- Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih kills 20 people, including 9 children, injures 75.
- Macron to helm EU's talks with Putin, the Telegraph reports.
- Ukrainian drones hit Russian explosives, fiber optic factories near Moscow.
- One killed, 3 injured in Kyiv amid massive Russian missile attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukraine's Western allies on April 6 that more needs to be done to stop Russian aggression, stressing that "the pressure on Russia is still not enough."
"The number of air attacks is growing," Zelensky said in a Telegram post after a Russian missile strike on Kyiv killed one and wounded three overnight.
"This is Russia's way of showing its true intentions – to continue terror as long as the world allows it."
Zelensky’s call for action from Western allies comes as the U.S. continues its efforts to end the war at any cost by pushing both sides toward a rushed peace deal. It remains unclear whether Europe could support Ukraine on its own if Washington were to suspend its military aid and intelligence sharing again.
Russian troops have launched over 1,460 aerial bombs, almost 670 combat drones, and over 30 missiles of various types against Ukraine during the past week, according to Zelensky.
On April 4, a Russian missile strike on the city of Kryvyi Rih – Zelensky's hometown –killed 19, including nine children, the local authorities said. Four more children who were injured during the attack are in serious condition at the hospital, according to their report.
"Every strike is against our people and children," Zelensky said in the Telegram post. "(Russian troops) are fighting against children playing in playgrounds."
Reacting to the U.S. Embassy's response to the Kryvyi Rih attack, Zelensky said on April 5 that it was "unpleasantly surprising," criticizing Ambassador Bridget Brink for not denouncing Russia.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also insisted in an April 6 post on X that it was "time for more pressure on Moscow," saying that Russia's only response to the United States' full ceasefire proposal has been more missile, drone, and aerial bomb attacks against Ukraine and its people.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih kills 20 people, including 9 children, injures 75
Russia's missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on April 4 killed 20 people, including nine children, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration.
Russian forces reportedly launched a combined missile and drone attack on the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast city in the evening, setting buildings ablaze in residential districts.
The attack killed 20 people, Vilkul said on April 6. Nine children were among the victims.
"Unfortunately, the number of victims of the Russian terrorist attack on April 4 has increased to 20 people," Vilkul said. "A 57-year-old man died in the hospital from multiple wounds. Doctors were doing everything possible and impossible around the clock, but the injuries were incompatible with life."
Another 75 people sustained injuries, with victims ranging from senior citizens to a three-month-old infant. Thirty-seven of the wounded have been hospitalized.
Two children, aged 5 and 8, are reportedly in critical condition, along with 15 other hospitalized victims.
"Doctors are fighting for their lives and providing all necessary assistance," Vilkul said.
The attack reportedly damaged 34 apartment buildings and six educational facilities, as well as various shops, businesses, cars, and homes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the attack: ""Russian strikes every day. Every day, people are killed. There is only one reason this continues: Russia does not want a ceasefire, and we see it. The whole world sees it."
"Every Russian promise ends with missiles or drones, bombs or artillery. Diplomacy means nothing to them. And that’s why pressure is needed — sufficient pressure on Russia so they feel the consequences of every lie of theirs, every strike, every single day they take lives and prolong the war," Zelensky said.
Several European leaders condemned the attack.
"Another reckless Russian attack struck a crowded residential area... Russia continues to destroy Ukraine, no interest in peace," European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas wrote on X, calling the attack "tragic and inhumane."
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the attack on Kryvyi Rih was targeted at a military gathering, a claim the Ukrainian military dismissed as "false information."
Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky's hometown, remains a frequent target of Russian attacks. The city, home to about 660,000 people, is the second-largest in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and lies roughly 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the front line.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Macron to helm EU's talks with Putin, the Telegraph reports
French President Emmanuel Macron is readying to become Europe's point person in negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, per the Telegraph.
France and the United Kingdom are the main players within the "coalition of the willing" that is toying with the creation of some form of peacekeeping force in a post-ceasefire Ukraine.
Citing sources within French government, the Telegraph compared Macron's ascent to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's relative reticence.
France is one of the few countries in NATO that conducts military operations independent of the U.S., primarily in missions in former colonies in West Africa. It likewise maintains an intelligence network separate from the U.S.-led Five Eyes, which came in handy for Ukraine when the U.S. cut off intel sharing for a week at the start of March.
Macron has been one of the more vocal proponents of a European rearmament. But results remain uncertain.
The unnamed official apparently said that it was "apparently, not yet" the time for Macron to lead the coalition.
Similarly, the details of any peacekeeping commitment from the coalition, whether French or otherwise, remain vague, with Ukraine awaiting tangible help.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
Ukrainian drones hit Russian explosives, fiber optic factories near Moscow
Ukrainian deep-strike drones hit Russian fiber-optic and explosives factories on the night of April 4.
The strikes targeted factories in Samara and Mordovia oblasts. A source with the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) confirmed to the Kyiv Independent that they were behind at least the strikes in Samara Oblast.
"SBU strike drones attacked 'Promsintez' in Chapayevsk, in Samara Oblast. The factory is one of the leading manufacturers of explosives in the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States," writes a source in the SBU, who said their drones hit the factory 20 times. "As a result, the leadership of the factory have stopped their technological processes."
Footage from local media show attacks on Saransk in Moravia Oblast the same night. One local source identified the building hit as a factory belonging to a company called "Fiber Optic Systems."
Russian investigative outlet Insider identifies Fiber Optic Systems as the main producer of optical fiber in Russia. Fiber-optic drones are resistant to electronic warfare interference. Russia's mass production of such drones has greatly enhanced the offensive power of the Russian military, most notably in their recent recapture of territory in Kursk Oblast.
Insider similarly identified Fiber Optic Systems as a remarkably effective link in the chain providing Russia with foreign-derived components for its war machine.
The governors of both oblasts announced no casualties as a result of the strikes.
Of the Promsintez strike, the SBU source said in a statement, "the SBU is continuing to work precisely through Russian businesses, that are part of the military-industrial complex and produce weapons for the war against Ukraine. Such objects are absolutely legal military targets."
Ukraine has invested heavily in its long-range strike drone programs, as well as more traditional missiles, in an effort to reach Russian infrastructure far from the front.
Russia, meanwhile, uses its much larger arsenal of ballistic missiles to strike civilian targets throughout Ukraine. One such strike hit a playground in Kryvyi Rih earlier today, killing 19, including 9 children.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
One killed, 3 injured in Kyiv amid massive Russian missile attack
An overnight Russian ballistic missile attack on Kyiv killed one person and wounded three people, the local authorities reported on April 6.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that the body of the victim had been found on the street near the epicenter of an explosion in Kyiv's Darnytskyi District, and that the person was being identified.
Two of the wounded in the Darnytskyi District, located on the capital's southeastern edge, have been hospitalized, Klitschko said.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said that the attack affected Kyiv's Darnytskyi, Obolonsky, and Solomyansky districts.
A fire broke out at an unspecified non-residential building, and another building was severely damaged, causing three nearby parked cars to catch fire as well, according to the State Emergency Service. It added that the fire was extinguished.
Another fire broke out at a furniture shop and a warehouse building, and a five-story office building sustained "partial destruction" across several floors, the State Emergency Service added. The fire was extinguished at these sites too, according to the report.
A round of explosions occurred in Kyiv around 5:00 a.m. local time on April 6, according to a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground.
Paramedics throughout the city are responding on the scene, Klitschko reported.
Earlier, explosions were heard in Kyiv at around 2:12 a.m., a Kyiv Independent journalist reported.
Poland mobilized its jets and air defenses in response to the massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine, the Polish Armed Forces said in a post on X.
Russian attacks have been ongoing throughout the country overnight. The Air Force earlier mentioned missiles approaching Southern Ukraine at 1:43 a.m.
Russia has regularly targeted civilian infrastructure since the onset of its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.
The U.S. has been in talks with Ukraine and Russia to negotiate an end to Russia's war against Ukraine.
Ukraine has already agreed to a U.S.-proposed full 30-day ceasefire, saying on March 11 that Kyiv is ready if Russia also agrees to the terms. So far, Moscow has refused.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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