Ukraine is mourning the victims of Russia’s ballistic missile attack on Sumy, which killed at least 35 people, including children, and wounded 119.
Two ballistic missiles hit the city at around 10:15am, according to Ukrainian officials, striking an area housing a number of religious buildings where many residents were gathering to celebrate Palm Sunday.
“This is the centre of the city, the central part, and yesterday was a big religious holiday. There are religious buildings on both sides of the street where the shelling took place. People were going to worship, so there were a lot of injured and wounded people,” explained Oleh Strilka, a spokesperson for Emergency Service in Sumy region.
Strilka described how fire crews battled to put out the remains of burned-out cars scattered among the rubble of damaged buildings and said emergency teams were still clearing shards of glass the day after the attack.
Many people have gathered to lay flowers at makeshift memorials in honour of the deceased.
International condemnation
European leaders have condemned the attack as a war crime, with Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, calling the strikes “Russia’s mocking answer” to Kyiv’s agreement to a ceasefire proposed by the United States over a month ago.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also pointed out that the attack on Sumy occurred just after President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
She stated that this highlights how “Russia shows full disregard for the peace process, but also that Russia has zero regard for human life.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has welcomed the international response to Russia’s attack but says more pressure on Moscow is needed to bring an end to the war.
“Only real pressure on Russia can stop this. We need tangible sanctions against those sectors that finance the Russian killing machine,” he wrote on X.
Speaking in his nightly address on Monday, the Ukrainian President said “Russian state propagandists are preparing their audience for the fact that negotiations and diplomacy will not work”.
“They are not afraid in Moscow right now. And if there is not enough pressure on Russia, they will continue to do what they are used to – continue to fight,” he added.
Meanwhile Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claims the missiles were targeting “Ukrainian military commanders and their Western colleagues” in Sumy, accusing Kyiv of using civilians as shields by holding military meetings in the city’s centre.
The Russian defence ministry also stated the attack killed more than 60 troops, but did not offer any evidence to back its claims.