Kryvyi Rih
Industrial city in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Volodymyr Zelenskyy's home city.
Russian fire kept reaching Kryvyi Rih into October 2026: two loitering munitions hit a city hospital's grounds on 6 October, wounding three. On 23 June an Iskander Ballistic missile had killed three people and wounded 23, as Ukraine's stock of interceptors ran short.
Last refreshed: 18 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why does Russia keep striking Zelenskyy's home city?
Timeline for Kryvyi Rih
Mentioned in: Zelenskyy dismisses Syrskyi, names Drapatyi war chief
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Iskander kills three in Kryvyi Rih
Russia-Ukraine War 2026Background
Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine's largest city by area and one of its main industrial centres, with a pre-war population of about 640,000. It stretches for roughly 130 km along the Inhulets river, a shape set by the iron ore deposits that run the length of the urban district. The Kryvbas mining and metallurgy complex and the ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel plant are both here.
The city is the birthplace and home of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Born there in 1978. That gives every strike on it a political edge as well as an industrial one. A missile attack in June 2026 killed three residents.
Kryvyi Rih has been within reach of the front since the first year of the full-scale war. In 2022 Mykhailo Drapatyi, whom Zelenskyy named commander-in-chief on 21 July 2026, stopped the Russian drive towards the city.
Interceptor shortages leave the city exposed
A Russian Iskander hit Kryvyi Rih on 23 June 2026, killing three people and wounding 23. The city sits about 300 km south-east of Kyiv, inside the range of launchers in occupied territory, so its main threat is the fast, steep-diving Ballistic missile rather than the slower drone.
Its exposure follows Ukraine's supply of PAC-3 rounds, the only interceptor in The National inventory that reliably stops an Iskander warhead. In the barrage of 14-15 June Ukraine downed 15 of 34 Iskander-M missiles; in The Week of 6 to 12 July it stopped none of the ballistic missiles fired at the country. The attacks on the city went on into the autumn. Two Banderol loitering munitions struck the grounds of a city hospital on 6 October, and strikes on 9 October damaged municipal infrastructure, according to the regional military administration.
Where is Kryvyi Rih and why is it Zelenskyy's home city?
What happened to Kryvyi Rih on 23 June 2026?
Why is Kryvyi Rih economically important to Ukraine?
Was Kryvyi Rih attacked in October 2026?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 18 October 2026. Editorial standards.