Officers from world wide condemned Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, because the Ukrainian metropolis of Sumy continued to sift by the wreckage brought on by Russian a missile strike that left at the least 34 folks lifeless.
Ukraine’s state emergency service mentioned two youngsters have been amongst these killed within the April 13 assault when Ukrainians have been marking Palm Sunday, whereas at the least 117 others — together with 15 youngsters — have been injured.
The assault prompted European officers to accuse Russia of committing a conflict crime, whereas US officers from President Donald Trump to a number of Republican and Democratic Social gathering lawmakers expressed horror on the dying and destruction triggered within the second main assault to kill civilians in 10 days.
In an interview that aired late on April 13 on the US information program 60 Minutes, Zelenskyy, who was talking earlier than the most recent assault had occurred, urged President Donald Trump to go to Ukraine to see first hand what Russia was doing to his nation at the same time as the 2 sides discuss with Washington a couple of cease-fire.
“However please, earlier than any sort of selections, any sort of types of negotiations, come to see folks, civilians, warriors, hospitals, church buildings, youngsters destroyed or lifeless,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
“You’ll perceive what Putin did.”
The Kremlin denied that the 2 assaults focused civilian infrastructure. Russia has all through the conflict constantly rejected allegations of intentionally hanging civilian targets in Ukraine, although repeated assaults on hospitals, colleges, power amenities, and residential buildings removed from any navy objects have been documented.
Trump, who has made ending the conflict a high overseas coverage precedence since taking workplace lower than three months in the past, referred to as the Russian strike on Sumy a “horrible factor.”
“I believe it was horrible. And I used to be informed they made a mistake. However I believe it is a horrible factor. I believe the entire conflict is a horrible factor,” he informed reporters aboard Air Drive One on April 13 as he traveled to Washington from Florida, though he did not specify what he meant by “made a mistake.”
Russia Focused Crowded Heart of Sumy
An RFE/RL correspondent who arrived in Sumy not lengthy after the assault mentioned it occurred “in a really crowded place — the middle of the town” at a time when many Ukrainians would have been going to church for Palm Sunday.
“Individuals stroll there with their youngsters,” Alyona Yatsyna added. “There are some cafes. All of the automobiles on the road, together with public transport — a complete bus burned to the bottom. There’s a number of destruction. Lots of people have been killed.”
The top of Ukrainian navy intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, mentioned on Telegram that two Iskander-M / KN-23 ballistic missiles had been launched at Sumy from Russia’s Voronezh and Kursk areas.
As crews started to scrub up particles the day after the assault, locals laid flowers to recollect the victims. “It is an enormous tragedy,” mentioned Serhiy Pask, the mayor of Mykolayivka, a village simply north of Sumy. “Sadly, it is taking place day by day.”
International Leaders Condemn Putin Over Sumy Strike
“That is the peak of [Putin’s] perfidy,” Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, informed public broadcaster ARD on April 14.
“It was a deliberate and calculated conflict crime.”
Merz, the 69-year-old chief of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), reiterated his constant assist for supplying long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, stressing that such a transfer needs to be made in shut coordination with European allies.
“European companions are already supplying cruise missiles,” he mentioned. “The British are doing it, the French are doing it, and the People are doing it anyway. It must be coordinated, and whether it is coordinated, then Germany needs to be a part of it,” he added.
He additionally pointed to Crimea as a possible goal for Ukraine’s long-range strikes. “One instance can be to destroy crucial land hyperlink between Russia and Crimea,” Merz added, noting its strategic significance for Russian navy logistics.
When questioned in regards to the Sumy assault, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on April 14 mentioned Russia’s navy targets solely “navy and military-linked targets.”
On the information briefing, Peskov additionally condemned Merz’s proposal on provides of Taurus long-range missiles, warning that such a transfer “will solely result in an extra escalation” of the battle.
The European Union’s high diplomat, Kaja Kallas, mentioned on April 14 in Luxembourg that “all those that need the killing to cease ought to put the utmost strain” potential on Russia to comply with a peace plan.
“We’ve to place the strain, the utmost strain, on Russia to actually finish this conflict, as a result of it takes two to need peace,” Kallas mentioned as she arrived at a gathering of European Union overseas ministers.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, in the meantime, was “deeply alarmed and shocked” by the assault in Sumy, his spokesman acknowledged, saying it “continues a devastating sample of comparable assaults on Ukrainian cities and cities in current weeks.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to as it a “horrifying Russian missile assault,” whereas Trump’s particular envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, mentioned the “Palm Sunday assault by Russian forces on civilian targets in Sumy crosses any line of decency.”
Trump has signaled impatience with the tempo of negotiations to cement a cease-fire in Ukraine. His administration continues to interact in direct talks with Russian officers as a part of a wider deal aimed toward rebuilding bilateral relations.
White Home envoy Steve Witkoff flew to St. Petersburg, Russia, to satisfy with Putin for greater than 4 hours of talks on April 12. Neither Witkoff nor the White Home issued any public remark after the assembly, although the Kremlin mentioned “elements of a Ukrainian settlement” had been mentioned.
“Whereas Ukraine has accepted President Trump’s ceasefire proposal, Putin continues to point out he’s extra involved in bloodshed than in peace. Focusing on harmless civilians as they collect to worship on Palm Sunday is past the pale,” Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the Home Committee on International Affairs, mentioned in a submit on X.
Russia and Ukraine individually agreed with the US final month at talks in Saudi Arabia to halt strikes on power infrastructure and at sea in what gave the impression to be an necessary step towards a full cease-fire. Within the meantime, Russia has continued to strike civilian infrastructure.
“I don’t see any hope for an actual cease-fire so long as Russia shouldn’t be underneath strain to adjust to it. All of the strain has been on Ukraine. I’ve seen no strain from the U.S. administration on Russia,” retired U.S. Lieutenant Normal Ben Hodges, who commanded U.S. Military forces in Europe from 2014 and 2017, informed RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.
‘Russia Is Focusing on Civilians’
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of workers, claimed the missiles contained cluster munitions.
“The Russians are doing this to kill as many civilians as potential,” he mentioned, in accordance with Reuters.
Zelenskyy’s condemnation of the assault got here after a Russian strike on the town of Kryviy Rih killed 20 folks, together with 9 youngsters, simply over per week earlier.
Maia Sandu, president of Ukraine’s southwestern neighbor Moldova, was fast to supply her condolences, too.
“Palm Sunday is a day of peace. This morning, as folks gathered to hope, Russia bombed Sumy — killing and injuring civilians,” she mentioned on X. “Moldova mourns with Ukraine and urges extra air protection to avoid wasting lives. The aggressor should be held accountable. There isn’t a justification for such evil.”
There was no remark but from the Kremlin on the reported strike.
The UN reported late final month that at the least 413 civilians had been killed within the battle because the starting of 2025. It additionally mentioned that greater than 2,000 folks had been injured in Ukraine resulting from Russian aggression within the first three months of the 12 months, a rise of 30 % in comparison with the identical interval in 2024.
Ukrainian International Minister Andriy Sybiha mentioned: “For the second month in a row, Russia has refused to just accept the US proposal for a full cease-fire, which Ukraine unconditionally accepted on March 11. As an alternative, Russia ramps up its terror.”
“We urge companions to supply Ukraine with extra air protection capabilities and improve strain on Moscow. Power is the one language they will perceive and the one option to put an finish to the horrific terror.”
Elsewhere on April 13, the Turkish Protection Ministry mentioned it is going to maintain a gathering on Black Sea safety on April 15–16, in accordance with TASS, though Ukrainian officers mentioned such a session had not but been scheduled.
The assembly would happen within the context of a potential cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine. Navy representatives from overseas nations will participate, the Russian information company reported.