Over 30 dead in Russian missile attack on Sumy, Ukraine

2025-04-13 13:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

More than 31 people were killed on Sunday by a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, officials announced.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service said the death toll had risen, after local authorities had initially reported 21 dead.

Two children were among the dead. At least 84 other people were injured, including 10 children.

The Russian military fired two ballistic missiles into the city center at around 10:15 a.m., as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, according to officials.

Videos posted from the scene on official channels show bodies lying on the ground amid rubble and smoke in central Sumy.

"On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy," the city's acting mayor, Artem Kobzar, said on social media.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that rescue teams were at the scene and said that "dozens" of people lost their lives in the two-missile attack.

"According to preliminary data, dozens of civilians have been killed and injured. Only such filth can act like this - taking the lives of ordinary people," he said.

Zelensky also called for a global response to the attack.

"Ballistic missiles and aerial bombs have never been stopped by words. What is needed is an attitude towards Russia as a terrorist," he said.

The attack came less than a day after top diplomats from Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating a temporary US-brokered agreement to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, highlighting the difficulties of talks to end the three-year war.

The foreign ministers of both countries spoke at separate events during the annual Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, a day after the US envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the possibilities for peace.

"The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every day that passes, with maybe two or three exceptions," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, adding that Moscow would present the US, Turkey and international organizations with a list of Kiev's attacks over the past three weeks.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, strongly disputed that claim, saying on Saturday that Russia had fired "nearly 70 missiles, over 2,200 drones and over 6,000 aerial bombs into Ukraine, mainly against civilians," since the ceasefire agreement .