Four people were killed and seven others were wounded in a Russian missile strike deep in the heart of Ukraine, partially destroying an educational facility in the central city of Kryviy Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, said that of those injured in the January 17, four were hospitalized and in a serious condition.
Witnesses said explosions from the attack could be heard throughout the city, while Lysak said two multistory buildings, one of which caught fire, were damaged.
One resident, Ihor Stepanenko, who had already lost his wife and been displaced in an attack in the Russia-occupied part of Kherson region, told RFE/RL his new partner was killed in the Kryviy Rih attack.
"We have been living here since 2023. My apartment in Kherson was blown up. There, I've buried my father; I've buried my wife.... Nothing else was left," he said.
"Here, I met a woman who worked at the 114th lyceum. She didn't survive [today's attack]. After two pieces of shrapnel hit her, she died," he added.
The Russian attack came a day after Moscow said Kyiv launched six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Russia's Belgorod region. Officials had pledged to retaliate for that attack and any others that involve longer-range Western-supplied missiles.
The January 17 attack on Kryviy Rih appears to have again targeted civilian infrastructure, which Russia had denied doing despite mounting attacks on such installations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack was conducted using ballistic missiles, underlining the continued threat posed by Russia's weaponry.
"Every terrorist strike speaks loudly about the enemy we are fighting. Russia will not stop itself -- it can be stopped only through joint global pressure by all those who cherish life," Zelenskiy said.
Russian officials have not publicly commented on the Kryviy Rih attack.
