Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – According to acting Mayor Artem Kobzar, a Russian missile strike on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed over 20 people on Sunday.
“The Russians hit the city of Sumy with missiles, killing civilians,”
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said in a post.
Andriy Kovalenko, a security official who supervises Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, underlined that the strike came after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Russia.
“Russia is building all this so-called diplomacy … around strikes on civilians,”
he said.
At 10:17 am, Ukraine’s Air Force issued a warning about a ballistic missile threat in Sumy Oblast. By 10:52 am, Kobzar reported that the city experienced a missile strike, resulting in “many dead. “
“Missiles struck a typical city street, disrupting everyday life: homes, schools, vehicles… This happened on a day when people attend church: Palm Sunday,”
remarked President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Social media is filled with videos depicting the aftermath of the assault on the city center. Human remains cover the streets, with numerous vehicles, including a bus, significantly damaged, and one car fully ablaze.
Christians observe Palm Sunday the week prior to Easter. In Ukraine, many individuals participate in church services on this holiday.
Can peace talks survive continued Russian attacks?
The assault occurs as Washington seeks to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. A month ago, Kyiv consented to a complete 30-day ceasefire, but Moscow has thus far declined and continues to strike Ukraine’s civilian targets. Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in St. Petersburg to discuss finding a peace agreement for Ukraine, while Trump urged Russia to “get moving.”
A day earlier, Russia’s defense ministry reported on Saturday that Ukraine had launched five attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in the past day, which it described as a breach of a U.S.-brokered moratorium on such strikes. Last month, Ukraine and Russia agreed to suspend strikes on each other’s energy facilities, but both sides have consistently accused one another of violating the moratorium.
