London – A Russian ballistic missile strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 31 people on Sunday morning, said Emergency Services, as many who celebrated Palm Sunday.
“The enemy hit the civilian population again,” acting mayor Artem Kobzar wrote in Telegram. Ukraine’s State Aid said at least 31 people – including two children – were confirmed killed, with 84 others injured. Two missiles hit the city center, authorities said.
Sumy City Council said the strike hit several buildings, including housing. “On this bright day of Palm Sunday, our society suffered a terrible tragedy,” Kobzar wrote.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the missiles used cluster ammunition that sprays less submunition over the target area. “A cluster -ammunition missile is something the Russians do to kill as many civilians as possible,” Yermak wrote on telegram. “The strike on the city of Sumy is a deliberate shooting of civilians.”
This distribution photo taken and released by Sumy City Council on April 13, 2025, local residents standing next to a burning car on site show a missile attack in Sumy, Northeastern Ukraine on April 13, 2025.
Distribution/Ukraine’s Sumy City Council/AFP
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the “horrible strike” hit “an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street.”
“And this is in a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the party for the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem,” he added. “Only a dandruff can act like this. To take the lives of ordinary people. My condolences to the relatives and friends. A rescue operation is underway now. All necessary services are working.”
“There is a need for a tough reaction from the world,” Zelenskyy wrote. “The United States, Europe, all in the world who want an end to this war and murder. Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and pulls out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible.”
“Lectures have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs,” Zelenskyy said. “We need that kind of attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves.”
In this distribution photo taken and released by the Ukrainian relief on April 13, 2025, a Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire on the spot for a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Distribution/Ukrainian emergency/AFP
ABC News’ Natalia Popova, Natalia Kushnir and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
