The Russian missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city in the northeast of Sumy while people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday. At least 34 people were killed in the second large -scale attack in Ukraine to claim a civil life in just over a week.
Officials said two ballistic missiles hit local time around 10:15 a.m. Images of the scene showed lines of black body bags on the side of the road while more bodies have been seen wrapped in aluminum paper covers among the debris.
Photo AP
The dead included two children, said the emergency service of the State of Ukraine in a statement. Some 117 people were injured, including 15 children.
“Only a dirty foam can act like this – taking the lives of ordinary people,” said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a press release on social networks, he said that the first strike had struck buildings belonging to a city university, while the second exploded above the street level.
The head of the office of the Ukrainian president Andriy Yermak said that the strike also used cluster ammunition to try to kill as many people as possible. The Associated Press could not verify the complaint.
Other world leaders also condemned the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron saying that this has undermined the peace talks led by Washington between the parties.
“Everyone knows: this war was initiated by Russia alone. And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue – with a blatant contempt for human life, international law and diplomatic efforts” by Trump, Macron wrote in a press release.
Asked about the attack, Trump said late Sunday evening that he was trying to have the war stopped.
“I think it was terrible and I was told that they made a mistake, but I think it is a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” Trump said on board the Air Force One when he returned to Washington. He did not specify if he said that the attack on Sumy was not intentional.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had offered his condolences earlier to the victims of “the horrible attack on Russian missiles against Sumy”.
“This is a tragic reminder of the reason why President Trump and his administration devote so much time and effort to try to end this war and reach a just and lasting peace,” he said.
Ukrainian emergency service via AP) 
Retirement lieutenant Kellogg retired, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said that Sumy’s attack had crossed any line of decency “and that the White House was determined to end the conflict.
“There are dozens of civilian people and wounded. As a former military leader, I understand targeting, and that’s it. That’s why President Trump is working hard to end this war,” he said.
The attack on Sumy followed a deadly missile strike on April 4 On the hometown of Zelenskyy, Kryvyi Rih It killed at least 19 people, including nine children.
Zelenskyy called for a global attack on the attack.
“The talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs. What is necessary is an attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves,” he said.
Photo AP 
Elsewhere in Ukraine, two women, aged 62 and 68, and a 48 -year -old man were killed in Russian attacks against the Kherson region, said local governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Another person was killed during the Russian bombing on the Donetsk region of Ukraine, said Governor Vadym Filashkin.
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said that a Russian strike had struck one of the city’s children’s gardens, breaking the windows and damaging the facade of the building. No victim has been reported.
Strikes one day after Russia and Ukraine superior diplomats accused each other of having violated a provisional agreement in the United States to suspend strikes on energy infrastructure, highlighting the challenges of the negotiation of the end of the three -year war.
The foreign ministers of the two countries spoke during separate events at the annual antalya diplomacy forum one day after American envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss the perspectives of peace.
“The Ukrainians attacked us from the start, every passing day, perhaps two or three exceptions,” said Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, adding that Moscow would provide the United States, Turkey and international organizations with a list of kyiv’s attacks in the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, challenged this assertion, claiming on Saturday that Russia had launched nearly 70 missiles, more than 2,200 explosive drones and more than 6,000 guided air bombs in Ukraine “, mainly in civilians” since its agreement on the limited break on strikes.
