Zelensky lambasts ‘weak’ US response to Russian strike

They are even afraid to say the word ‘Russian’ when talking about the missile that killed the children, says Ukrainian president after the Russian strike on his hometown

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday slammed the US administration for what he called a “weak” statement that did not name Russia for a missile strike on his hometown which killed 18 people, including nine children.

One of the deadliest strikes in recent weeks, a Russian missile on Friday evening struck a residential area near a children’s playground in the central Ukrainian town of Kryvyi Rig, followed up by attack drones.

Seventy-three people were wounded, 18 of them children, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Sergiy Lysak said after a day of emergency operations overnight, with city officials declaring three days of mourning.

Zelensky in emotional statement on social media named each of the children killed in the attack, accusing the US embassy of avoiding referring to Russia as the aggressor.

"Unfortunately, the reaction of the American Embassy is unbelievably surprising: such a strong reaction to just a shaking people - and such a weak reaction," Zelensky wrote.

"They are even afraid to say the word 'Russian' when talking about the missile that killed the children."