Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday slammed the U.S. Embassy for what he called a "weak" statement that did not blame Russia for a missile strike on his hometown that killed 18 people, including nine children.

In 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.

Seventy-two people were wounded, 12 of them children, Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Sergiy Lysak said after the end of emergency operations overnight, with city officials declaring three days of mourning.