Kremlin responds to Kiev’s claim of civilian casualties in Krivoy Rog strike
The Russian military does not strike civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Peskov’s comment followed claims by Kiev that 18 civilians were killed, including nine children, and 56 others were wounded in a Russian attack on the city of Krivoy Rog in central Ukraine on Friday.
The spokesman was asked by journalists on Monday if it was possible that “there was a mistake on the Russian side, that maybe the intelligence was not accurate” ahead of the strikes.
Peskov replied by saying, “we should rely entirely on the statement of our Defense Ministry,” adding: “Our military strikes exclusively military and military-related targets. No strikes are carried out on social infrastructure facilities.”
The Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it hit “a meeting place of commanders of [Ukrainian] military units and Western instructors in one of the restaurants” in Krivoy Rog.
Up to 85 Ukrainian and foreign troops and officers were killed, and up to 20 vehicles were damaged in the strike, according to the statement.
On Monday, the Defense Ministry said Ukraine was continuing its violations of a 30-day truce on attacks against energy infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, agreed to the pause during a phone call on March 18. Later, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky also agreed to the pause.
Within the past 24 hours alone, Ukrainian forces have used drones and artillery to target six energy facilities in the Russian regions of Voronezh, Bryansk, Kherson, and the Donetsk People’s Republic, causing damage to infrastructure and disrupting the electricity supply for some customers, it said.
