{"id":133588,"date":"2025-04-13T20:49:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T20:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/russian-missile-strike-kills-dozens-in-ukrainian-city-of-sumy-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-04-13T20:49:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T20:49:14","slug":"russian-missile-strike-kills-dozens-in-ukrainian-city-of-sumy-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/russian-missile-strike-kills-dozens-in-ukrainian-city-of-sumy-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian missile strike kills dozens in Ukrainian city of Sumy – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volodymyr Zelenskyy decries attack on \u2018ordinary city street\u2019 while people were going to church for Palm Sunday
At least 34 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people were going to church for Palm Sunday, in the worst attack on civilians this year.
Two missiles landed in the crowded city centre on Sunday morning. One hit a trolley bus full of passengers. Footage from the scene showed bodies lying in the street, burning cars, and rescuers carrying bloodied survivors. Two of the dead were children.
\u201cMy seven-year-old son was running for shelter when the second missile struck. The blast ripped off a door which hit him in the leg. He has a bruise but is OK,\u201d said Volodymyr Niankin<\/a>, a film director. \u201cMy son said this is the most terrible day of his life.\u201d
Niankin said he saw bodies on the ground. \u201cMany of the people who died were sitting on the bus or walking in the road. A lot of people were out and about because it was a religious festival. I think this is genocide.\u201d
Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a>, said there were \u201cdozens of dead and wounded civilians\u201d. He accused Russia of carrying out an act of deliberate terror and said tough reaction was needed from the US, Europe and the rest of the world.
\u201cEnemy missiles hit an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street \u2026 And this on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord\u2019s entry into Jerusalem,\u201d he posted on social media<\/a>.
Zelenskyy said the Kremlin was ignoring a US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire. \u201cUnfortunately, there in Moscow they are convinced they can keep killing with impunity. Action is needed to change this situation,\u201d he said.
Officials said 117 people had been injured, including 15 children.
There was widespread international outrage. Donald Trump\u2019s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said the attack \u201ccrosses any line of decency\u201d. \u201cAs a former military leader, I understand targeting and this is wrong. It is why President Trump is working hard to end this war,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he was \u201cappalled at Russia\u2019s horrific attacks on civilians\u201d. Vladimir Putin \u201cmust now agree to a full and immediate ceasefire without conditions\u201d, he said.
France\u2019s president, Emmanuel Macron, agreed on the \u201curgent need to impose a ceasefire on Russia\u201d. \u201cEveryone knows it is Russia alone that wants this war,\u201d he said. The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, described the scenes from Sumy as heartbreaking and horrific.
The EU\u2019s ambassador to Ukraine<\/a>, Katar\u00edna Mathernov\u00e1, called the strikes a war crime. \u201cNothing seems to be sacred to the Russians \u2013 neither churches, nor Ukrainian children,\u201d she said.
Ukrainians contrasted the images of bodies in Sumy with photos of Trump\u2019s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, warmly shaking hands with Putin on Friday. The two held four hours of talks in St Petersburg.
Putin\u2019s press spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Sunday that the talks were going very well but that it was \u201cimpossible to expect any instant results\u201d.
Trump has said he is \u201cpissed off\u201d at Russia\u2019s failure to stop bombing, but has so far not taken any concrete measures against Moscow. Ukraine has signed up to a 30-day ceasefire that Washington proposed a month ago.
Since then, Russia has escalated its bombardment of Ukrainian cities, firing 70 missiles and 2,200 drones. Nine children and nine adults were killed earlier this month when a Russian missile hit a playground<\/a> in the city of Kryvyi <\/strong>Rih.
Zelenskyy has been pressing allies to send another 10 Patriot air defence systems to protect Ukraine\u2019s skies. \u201cTalks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs. We need the kind of attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves,\u201d he said on Sunday.
Sumy is 15 miles (25km) from the border with Russia and is a major Ukrainian military hub. The missiles landed in a central civilian area where many people carrying willow branches for Palm Sunday were on their way to church.
Video from a car dashcam shows an orange flash as one of the missiles struck at 10.20am. Plumes of grey smoke can be seen as other vehicles reverse away from the danger and passersby run in panic.
The first missile hit a conference centre belonging to Sumy\u2019s state university<\/a>. Several children were waiting outside for an 11am theatre performance in a basement venue. The second landed 200 metres away, in Pokrovska Street, as the trolley bus rolled past.
Niankin said the centre was a unique arts hub and home to a theatre he ran. \u201cI feel like half of my heart has been taken away. It was a place where we could play and create. Everything is destroyed: the stage, costumes, all our stuff. We have no chance to continue our work,\u201d he said.
The director, who made a film about Sumy\u2019s resistance<\/a> to Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion, said there were not a lot of people inside the building when it was flattened. \u201cIt happened half an hour before the show was due to start. My son was nearby attending a class in a studio.\u201d
Ukraine\u2019s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said Russia had launched two Iskander-M missiles from its western territory in the Voronezh and Kursk regions. He identified the army forces responsible as the 112th and 448th missile brigades. \u201cAnother proof of the godlessness of the disgusting cursed Moscow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy decries attack on \u2018ordinary city street\u2019 while people were going to church for Palm SundayAt least 34 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy as people were going to church for Palm Sunday, in the worst attack on civilians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}