 "In this handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on April 13, 2025, a Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP Photo")
In one of the deadliest single strikes in months, a Russian missile strike on Sunday in the city centre of Ukraine’s city of Sumy killed at least 34 people, Kyiv said, with European and US officials condemning the attack.
Kyiv said Moscow hit the northeastern city, close to the Russian border, with two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning and that the attack also wounded nearly 120 people.
The missiles targeted a busy area in the heart of the city. Video footage posted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed mangled buses, charred vehicles, and bodies lying motionless on the street, the wreckage framed by smoke and debris.
“Only scoundrels can act like this. Taking the lives of ordinary people,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem.”
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, said on X that the attack by Russian forces on civilian targets “crosses any line of decency”.
The strike came two days after US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war.
Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine.
Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a “strong response” to Russia, adding: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”
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More ShortsFrench leader Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump”.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.
The fact the bloodshed fell on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders.
It was “a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
“The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, while Danish leader Mette Frederiksen said the “missile attack on civilians gathered on Palm Sunday… shows Russia’s true face”.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the killing “as many people made their way to prayer on Palm Sunday” demonstrated that “Putin underscores with blood that he seeks not peace but destruction”.
Dutch premier Dick Schoof urged more air defences “so that Ukraine can defend itself against this violence”.
With inputs from agencies