At least 32 people were killed in a Russian rocket strike against the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, officials said.
Two ballistic rockets hit the heart of the city around 10:15 a.m. when people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, civil servants said.
Pictures from the scene on official channels showed lines of black funeral bags that were on the side of the road, while more bodies were wrapped in foil ceilings between the rubble. Firefighters also showed video material when they fought to extinguish the mussels from burned cars under the ruins from damaged buildings.
“On this bright palm Sunday, our community suffered a terrible tragedy,” said Artem Kobzar, reigning mayor, in a statement on social media. “Unfortunately we already know more than 20 deaths.”
As a result of the attack, at least 32 people were killed, including two children, said the Ukraine state emergency service in a statement. Another 84 people were injured, including 10 children, it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the rescue efforts lasted and said that “dozens” were killed in the attack of the double missiles.
“According to preliminary information, dozens of civilians were killed and wounded. Only dirty scum can act in this way – life takes ordinary people,” he said.
The attack on Sumy is the second large -scale attack, which lives in just more than a week after Zelenskyy’s hometown Kryvyi Rih killed a fatal rocket strike in Zelenskyy’s hometown of 20 people on April 4, including nine children.
Zelenskyy also called for a global reaction to the attack. “The conversations have never stopped ballistic rockets and air bombs. What is needed is an attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves,” he said.
The strike underlines the urgent need to impose a ceasefire on Russia on Sunday wrote French President Emmanuel Macron on X.
“Everyone knows that it is Russia alone who wants this war. Today it is clear that Russia wants to continue with it and shows his contempt for human life, international law and diplomatic efforts by President Trump,” said Macron.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said on Sunday that a Russian strike had hit one of the city’s kindergartens, smashed the windows and damaged the facade of the building. No victims were reported.
The strike is less than a day after Russia and the top diplomats of Ukraine have been accused of violating a preliminary US contract agreement in order to pause strikes against the energy infrastructure, and to underline the challenges when negotiating an end of the three-year war.
The Foreign Minister of the two countries spoke at separate events in the annual Antalya Diplomaty Forum, one day after the US envoy Steve Witkoff had met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.
US President Donald Trump accused Ukraine of not ending the war years ago with Russia. The comments were an answer to the concerns of Ukraine to be excluded from the discussions with Russia in Saudi Arabia.
“From the beginning, the Ukrainians attacked us every day, perhaps with two or three exceptions,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and added that Moscow would provide the USA, Turkey and the international bodies in the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, has violated this claim and said on Saturday that Russia “almost 70 rockets, over 2,200 drones and over 6,000 led air bombs in Ukraine, mainly with civilians”, started the limited break to strike strikes.
