Two Russian ballistic missiles struck around 10:15 a.m. hitting the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 people, officials said, in the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.
The dead included two children, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement. A further 117 people were wounded, including 15 children, official reported.
The attack on Sumy followed a deadly April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 people, including nine children.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed deep sadness in a statement on social media, knocking the action of the Russians: “Only filthy scum can act like this — taking the lives of ordinary people,” he said the first strike hit buildings belonging to a city university, while the second exploded above street level.
Zelenskyy called for a global response to the attack. “Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves,” he said.
Other world leaders also condemned the attack, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying that it undermined Washington-led peace talks between the sides.
“Everyone knows: This war was initiated by Russia alone. 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 U.S. President Donald Trump, he wrote in a statement.
Asking about the attack, Trump said late Sunday evening that he was trying to get the war stopped. “I think it was terrible and I was told they made a mistake, but I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington. He did not clarify whether he was saying the attack was unintentional.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the Sumy attack crossed “any line of decency” and that the White House remained committed to ending the conflict.
“There are scores of civilian dead and wounded. As a former military leader, I understand targeting, and this is wrong,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack “horrifying” and said it offered “a tragic reminder” of why the administration was trying to end the war in favor of “a just and durable peace.”
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