A mother cries at the coffin of her son Herman Tripolets, 9, killed by a Russian missile, during a funeral ceremony in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Monday, April 7, 2025.

    On April 7th 2025, a mother wept in front of the coffin of her 9-year-old son Herman Tripolets, who was killed by a Russian missile at a funeral in Krivyi Rih, Ukraine. She mourned at the funeral of children killed by Ukrainian and Russian missiles.

     More than 70 people were injured in an attack in Krivyi Rih in the evening of April 4th 2025. The children were playing on the swings and in the sandbox in the tree-lined park at the time of the missile attack. The bodies of the victims lay scattered across the lawn. In the Ukrainian city of Krivyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings and blew up playgrounds on April 4. The funeral of the 20 victims, including nine children, was held on April 7, and anger and resentment swirled.

     The UN Human Rights Office in Ukraine said it was the worst harm to children in a single attack since Russia's full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022. It was one of the deadliest attacks of 2025. The Ukrainian Air Force Command said on state television that Russian military missiles and drones had continued to evolve, making them more difficult to shoot down. The Russian military's Iranian-designed Shahed drones have undergone significant evolution, and the Russian military has also modernized its ballistic missiles. Only the American-made Patriot missile defense system can prevent attacks such as the one on Krivoy Rih.

Warning: A mother cries at the coffin of her son Herman Tripolets, 9, killed by a Russian missile, during a funeral ceremony in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)