A Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed 34 individuals – two of them children – and wounded 117 others, has been roundly condemned by Kyiv’s Western allies.
Two ballistic missiles hit the city center mid-morning on Sunday, detonating close to the state university and congress center, with bloodied bodies strewn in the streets.
US President Donald Trump called the attack a “horrible thing” as Germany’s acting chancellor, Friedrich Merz, accused Russia of a war crime. Russia had no immediate official response to the attack, whose troops on the adjacent border are reported to be readying for a significant offensive.
The strike follows as Trump’s strongest military ally, the US, has been seeking the end of the war, now four years old, through negotiation under Trump. Quizzed over the attack, the US president responded that the attack was “terrible” and that he had been “told they made a mistake”, but wouldn’t say anything further. Prior to this, Trump’s Ukrainian special envoy, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, said the strike had crossed “any line of decency”.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called on Trump to come to Ukraine and witness firsthand the destruction caused by the invasion of Russia.
“Come and see people, civilians, fighters, hospitals, churches, kids killed or destroyed,”
he told an interview for the 60 Minutes programme of CBS, conducted prior to the assault on Sumy.
Merz, set to become Germany’s new chancellor in a month’s time, in an interview with German public network ARD claimed that the strike on Sumy was a “serious war crime.”.
“It was a treacherous act. and it is a grave war crime, intentional and deliberate,”
the right-wing politician declared. Germany’s departing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, stated that the attack proved “just what Russia’s alleged readiness for peace [was] worth.”.
French President Emmanuel Macron blamed Russia for “blatant disregard of human lives, international law, and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”. “Strong measures are required to impose a ceasefire on Russia,” he stated.
“France is doing everything to work toward this end, with its partners.”
Terming the attack “barbaric”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen further said: “Russia was and continues to be the aggressor, in gross violation of international law.”.
“Urgent action is needed to impose a ceasefire. Europe will keep reaching out to partners and keeping Russia under strong pressure until the killing stops and a lasting and fair peace is secured, on Ukraine’s terms and conditions.”
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also shared an opinion, stating he was “appalled at Russia’s horrific attacks on civilians in Sumy.”
A UN Secretary-General António Guterres spokesman said he was “deeply alarmed and shocked” when he heard about the missile strike.
“Civilians and civilian objects shall not be targeted under international humanitarian law, and any such attack, wherever launched, must be stopped immediately,”
he added.
Guterres emphasized the UN’s backing for “meaningful efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully respects Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity”.
Sunday’s double missile attack was the deadliest on civilians in Ukraine this year.
Yet another Russian missile strike, last month on 4 April, killed 20 and wounded 61 in the city of Kryvyi Rih. On that date, Russia’s defence ministry reported that it had hit a gathering of “unit commanders and Western instructors” in a restaurant. No proof was given.
It is believed that hundreds of thousands of individuals – the overwhelming majority of them military personnel – have been injured or killed on both sides since Russia mounted a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
The UN believes that almost seven million Ukrainians are now refugees.
The fighting traces back over a decade, to 2014, when Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president was toppled. Russia then seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and supported rebels in bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine.
