Russian missiles shelled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Monday, the president announced on Twitter.
The missile strikes occurred one day after Zelenskyy signaled an increase in Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil. “Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address to the country Sunday, according to The New York Times (NYT). “And this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process.”
The Kryvyi Rih attack killed at least six people and wounded dozens more, the NYT reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
Rescue operation continues in Kryvyi Rih on the site of Russian missiles’ hits. Preliminary, two ballistic missiles. Floors four through nine of the residential building have been completely destroyed. The work is difficult – parts of the building’s structure were falling down.… pic.twitter.com/Xa7AzkFoH4
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 31, 2023
The strike occurred while Ukraine and Croatia’s foreign ministers met in Kyiv to discuss the possibility of using Croatian ports to export grain from Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s exit from the Black Sea Grain Initiative earlier in July, The Washington Post reported. (RELATED: Russia Damages US Drone Over Syria)
💬 Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process, – President of #Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy#UkraineWar #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/ws3T2xZvPs
— @BlogUkraine (@BlogUkraine) July 30, 2023
The escalation in Zelenskyy’s rhetoric follows reports from Russia about Ukrainian drone attacks in Moscow, which Russia ultimately thwarted, according to The Post. While Ukrainian officials have not corroborated the alleged drone attacks, Zelenskyy reportedly said Sunday those kinds of attacks are “inevitable.”