At least 31 civilians, including two children, have been killed and 83 more injured in a Russian missile strike on the city of Sumy, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Seven children were among the civilians injured in “cars, public transport, in houses” after the direct hit on the bustling city on Sunday morning.
“Only scoundrels can act like this. Taking the lives of ordinary people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media, alongside a chilling video which showed corpses on the ground, a destroyed bus and burnt-out cars in the middle of a sunny square.
Zelensky added: “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.”
The strike 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, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year war.
At least 31 killed including two children killed in Sumy strike – State Emergency Service of Ukraine
“Update: As of 13:40, 31 people were killed, among them 2 children. 84 people were affected, 10 of them were children. The work continues.”
Sumy missile strike death toll rises to 24 including one child
24 people, including one child, have been killed in the Palm Sunday missile strike on Sumy, according to a statement from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine’s Telegram channel.
They said in a 1pm update: “24 people were killed, including 1 child, in two rocket strikes on the city.
“84 people were injured, including 7 children. Our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier called the strike one of the deadliest attacks on Ukrainian soil this year.
On April 4 ,a Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has killed at least 18 people.
Nine of the dead were children, said Zelensky, who grew up in Kryvyi Rih.
Two women killed in Kupiansk rocket launcher strike
Russian troops launched a rocket launcher attack on Kupiansk killing two women, Oleh Syniehubov, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration said on Telegram.
“As a result of the shelling, structural elements of a garage caught fire over an area of 10 square meters. Sadly, two women were killed in the courtyard of a five-story residential building.
“The enemy continues its deliberate terror against the civilian population,” Syniehubov wrote.
‘Everything is going well’ Kremlin says on ceasefire process as 21 killed in Sumy
A Kremlin spokesperson has said ceasefire talks with the United States were progressing – even as 21 civilians were killed in a rocket strike on Sumy.
“Everything is going very well,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television’s most prominent Kremlin reporter, Pavel Zarubin on Sunday when asked about the differing views of the state of relations between Moscow and Washington.
Contacts were underway at several levels, Peskov said, including via the foreign ministry, intelligence agencies and Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
“But, of course, it is impossible to expect any instant results,” Peskov said.
Seven children among 83 injured in Sumy strikes
At least 21 people have been killed and 83 more injured Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko said on his Telegram channel.
“21 people died. 83 people were injured, including 7 children. All are receiving medical assistance”, he posted.
“Emergency services continue to work at the scene.
“Sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of Sumy, we grieve with you.”
‘There will be retribution for everything’
Sumy mayor Oleksandr Lysenko demands revenge for Palm Sunday strike on his city.
“So much heartbreak. Russian ballistic missiles are killing civilians in my city,” he posted on Telegram.
“There will be retribution for everything. It is already known about more than 20 dead.”
Acting mayor of Sumy posts harrowing image of child’s scooter in aftermath of Russian strike
“On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,” acting mayor of Sumy Artem Kobzar said in a statement on Telegram.
“Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths.”
Zelensky demands ‘tough’ reaction to Sumy strike
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia hit the centre of Sumy “on the day when people go to church – Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem.
“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,” Zelensky says.
He adds that “talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs”.
The president says the missile hit “an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street” and that a rescue operation is now under way.
The president calls for “a tough reaction from the world”.
In pictures: Aftermath of Sumy missile strike
More than 20 civilians killed in Sumy strike
More than 20 people have been killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, the city’s acting mayor has said.
Two ballistic missiles struck the heart of the city as local people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday.
“On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,” Artem Kobzar said in a statement on social media. “Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths.”
The strike 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, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year war.
Source: independent.co.uk