Dozens dead in Ukraine’s Sumy after Russian strike, acting mayor says
Ukrainian officials have said that more than 30 people have been killed in a Russian missile strike on the north-eastern city of Sumy, which has come under intense attack from Moscow’s forces in recent weeks.
Two ballistic missiles struck the heart of the city at around 10:15am local time (5:15pm AEST) as local people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Images posted from the scene on official channels showed lines of black body bags lying on the side of the road, while more bodies were seen wrapped in foil blankets among the debris.
Firefighters work to contain a blaze in Central Sumy. (Reuters: Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout)
Video footage also showed fire crews as they fought to extinguish the shells of burnt-out cars among the rubble from damaged buildings.
Acting mayor Artem Kobzar initially said more than 20 civilians were dead “as a result of a missile strike”.
That number was later revised up to at least 32 people who were killed as a result of the attack, including two children, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
A further 84 people were injured, including 10 children, it said.
“On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,” Mr Kobzar added on social media.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said early information suggested there were “dozens of dead and wounded civilians”.
“And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday … Only bastards can do this,” he wrote on social media.
The crumbling facade of a building located at the site of the Russian missile strike in Sumy. (Reuters: Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office)
Mr Zelenskyy also called for a global response to the attack.
“Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs,” he said.
“What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves.
“A tough reaction from the world is needed.
“The United States, Europe, everyone in the world who wants an end to this war and murders.
“Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible.”
Multiple vehicles were left fire damaged or destroyed in the wake of the missile strike. (Reuters: Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office)
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed Mr Zelenskyy’s messaging.
“Everyone knows: this war was initiated by Russia alone,” Mr Macron said in a post on X.
“And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it — with blatant disregard for human lives, international law, and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump.
“Strong measures are needed to impose a ceasefire on Russia. France is working tirelessly toward this goal, alongside its partners. To the victims, the wounded, and all of Ukraine that continues to resist: our solidarity, our respect, our unwavering commitment.”
Sumy lies some 50 kilometres from the border.
The attack on Sumy is the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week, after a deadly missile strike on Mr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on April 4 that killed around 20 people, including nine children.
Ukraine’s regional human rights department building in Sumy, seen destroyed in this image released by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Press Service. (AP: Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Press Service)
Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.
Last month, Russia claimed the capture of a village in the Sumy region for the first time since the early days of its 2022 invasion.
Andriy Kovalenko, a security official who runs Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, highlighted that the strike came after US envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow.
“Russia is building all this so-called diplomacy … around strikes on civilians,” he wrote on Telegram.
Mr Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in St Petersburg about the search for a peace deal on Ukraine, as Mr Trump told Russia to “get moving”.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said on Sunday that a Russian strike had hit one of the city’s kindergartens, shattering windows and damaging the building’s facade.
No casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry told Interfax news agency Ukraine carried out two attacks on Russian energy infrastructure over the past day.
Both strikes comes less than a day after Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.
Wires
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