LONDON — A Russian ballistic missile strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 32 people on Sunday morning, emergency services said, as many there celebrated Palm Sunday.
“The enemy struck the civilian population again,” acting Mayor Artem Kobzar wrote on Telegram. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said that at least 32 people — including two children — were confirmed killed, with 84 others injured. Two missiles struck the center of the city, authorities said.
The Sumy City Council said the strike hit multiple buildings, including residential ones. “On this bright day of Palm Sunday, our community suffered a terrible tragedy,” Kobzar wrote.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said the missiles used cluster munitions, which spray smaller sub-munitions over the target area. “A cluster munition 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 shelling of civilians.”
This handout photograph taken and released by the Sumy City Council on April 13, 2025, shows local residents standing next to a burning car at the site of a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine on April 13, 2025.
Handout/Ukraine’s Sumy City Council/AFP
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the “terrible strike” hit “an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street.”
“And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the lord’s entry into Jerusalem,” he added. “Only a scoundrel can act like this. Taking the lives of ordinary people. My condolences to the relatives and friends. A rescue operation is underway now. All necessary services are working.”
“A tough reaction from the world is needed,” Zelenskyy wrote. “The United States, Europe, everyone in the world who wants an end to this war and murders. Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible.”
“Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs,” Zelenskyy said. “We need the kind of attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves.”
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.
Handout/UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SERVICE/AFP
ABC News’ Natalia Popova, Natalia Kushnir and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
