April 5 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nations need to apply "real pressure" on Russia to end its attacks on Ukraine following Russian air strikes on a residential area on Friday.
Russian forces launched missile and drone aerial attacks that killed 18, including nine children, in a residential area of Kryvyi Rih in Central Ukraine, Zelensky said in a post on X.
"Staying silent about the fact that it is Russia killing children with ballistic missiles is wrong and dangerous," Zelensky said. "It only emboldens the scum in Moscow to continue the war and keep ignoring diplomacy."
He said a Russian missile targeted the "street of an ordinary city" and struck residential buildings and was followed by a drone strike.
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In addition to killing 18, Ukrainian officials said the strikes injured more than 60 others, CBS News reported.
The strikes damaged a restaurant, an educational building, about 20 apartment buildings and more than 30 vehicles, local officials said.
"Russia must be held accountable for everything it has done," Zelensky said. "There must be real pressure, without wasting time on empty talk, to finally end this war."
He said the "United States, Europe and the rest of the world have enough power to make Russia abandon terror and war."
U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink agreed the war must end.
"Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih," Brink said Friday in a post on X.
"More than 50 people injured and 16 killed, including six children," Brink said while citing casualty figures that since have been updated. "This is why the war must end."
Zelensky called Brink's reaction to the aerial strikes a "weak reaction," ABC News reported.
"Unfortunately, the reaction of the American Embassy is unpleasantly surprising," Zelensky said. "They are even afraid to say the word 'Russian' when talking about the missile that killed children."
The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said the aerial strikes successfully struck legitimate military targets and killed
"A meeting of military commanders and Western instructors, which was taking place at a restaurant in Kryvyi [Rih], was targeted at 6:49 p.m.Moscow time on April 4," the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday in a statement.
"The attack made the enemy lose up to 85 service members and military officers from foreign countries."
The strike occurred after Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected a proposed 30-day cease-fire brokered by U.S. officials.
Officials in France and the United Kingdom on Friday said Putin is delaying a cease-fire, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said time will tell if Putin is serious about desiring peace or is just using negotiations to delay potential actions against it.
