On Sunday morning, two Russian ballistic missiles crashed into a bustling city center in northeastern Ukraine, officials said.
The middle strike in Sumi City is the latest in a series of escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian urban centers, which caused heavy civilian casualties despite the Trump administration pushing a ceasefire.
Officials said the city center was filled with civilians enjoying the Palm Sunday, a Christian celebration popular in Ukraine when missiles hit. The lively streets turned into a scene of the Holocaust: the video of the consequences showed a still, bleeding body lying on a motionless corpse, burning cars and debris covering the road, screaming and sirens crying in the background.
According to Ukraine’s emergency services, two of the two children were injured, with at least 117 people injured.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko expressed regret on social media.
Sumy resident Volodymyr Boiko, 69, was riding in the back of a crowded bus when a missile hit. His face cut his face, but said the person sitting in front was not so lucky and went all out. “It's just corpses, stacked on each other,” Mr. Boiko said.
He compared the scene outside the bus to a “horror movie” and added: “This is the first time in my life that people are dismembered.”
The strike happened more than a week later, and a week later, Russian missiles attacked a playground in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, killing 19 people, including nine children. According to Ukrainian officials, in that attack, Russia used high-speed ballistic missiles in a attack on Sunday, which made them difficult to shoot down.
Overall, civilian deaths have increased since the U.S.-mediated ceasefire negotiations began in March. The United Nations said last week that 164 civilians were killed in Ukraine last month, an increase of 50% from February and a 70% increase from the same period last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of using a ceasefire in time to negotiate a parking meeting against Stall, saying that Moscow had no real interest in Sumi's attack despite efforts to promote an attack.
“A strong reaction from the world is needed. Everyone from the United States, from Europe wants this war and killing to end,” Mr. Zelensky said in a message posted on the telegram. “Russia is seeking this terror accurately and is delaying the war.”
Both Russia and Ukraine have pledged to stop attacks on energy infrastructure and the Black Sea, but a deal has not yet come into effect. Russia also rejected all unconditional 30-day ceasefires that Ukraine urged to accept in the United States.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that Russia has escalated attacks on civilian areas since the ceasefire negotiations began in Saudi Arabia last month.
“This is Russia's response to all peace proposals,” Mr Sybiha told the state news agency. “They delayed, manipulated and continued to invade with their partners.”
Ukraine's allies responded to these sentiments on Sunday, which appeared to be a coordinated response to Sumi's strike.
The French president said on social media: “Everyone knows: this war was initiated by Russia alone. Today, it is clear that Russia alone has chosen to continue this war – blatantly ignoring human life, international law and President Trump's diplomatic efforts.”
The Russian military did not immediately comment on Sumi's attack, which is only 18 miles from the Russian border. Before the war, the city was home to about 250,000 people. It has since become a refuge for Ukrainian civilians who flee along the Russian border and towns to escape bombing and potential attacks.
Over the past year, Sumi and its surrounding areas have been frequently attacked by Russia, especially because Ukraine uses the region as the base for Russia's cross-border attacks in the Kursk region. Moscow's troops drove most of Ukrainian troops out of Kursk this year, but Kiev warned that Russia was ready to enter the Sumi region and open a new front in the war.
Valeria Voronenko, a 24-year-old Sumy resident, said locals were used to attacks, but Sunday's attack was the “most serious tragedy” the city experienced in the Three Years' War. “The whole atmosphere – people shouted, wept,” said at the scene after the attack. “That’s chaos.”
Volunteer Serhii Skliarenko, 44, tended to be injured after the attack.
“The kind of peace Trump is talking about, the international community is talking about – it's unthinkable,” he said. “They should be brought here to understand this taint, this evil, what kind of peace is leading to.”
