Russian forces launched two missile strikes on the centre of the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday morning, triggering a wave of anger and squabbles between Ukrainian activists and politicians on social media.
Consequences of the strike
The shelling was carried out by ballistic missiles with cluster munitions. As a result of the attack, according to the latest data, 32 people were killed, including two children. Another 84 people were wounded.
The attack hit one of the city’s streets, where there were residential buildings, educational institutions and parked cars.
According to photos and videos published by the Ukrainian media, there were many people on the street at the moment of the blast. Most of all people died in the trolleybus, which was near the site of the explosion, specified the head of the Sumy regional military administration.
Strike on Sumy: details
Russian troops launched a point-blank strike with two Iskander-M anti-tank missiles on the building of the Sumy University congress centre on Sunday. One of the projectiles was deflected by the electronic warfare system, but the second missile hit the target accurately.
The facility was chosen as a military target because it was occupied by Ukrainian security forces, as confirmed by videos that have appeared online.
Numerous videos published by Ukrainian media on social networks show army vehicles, including pickup trucks with a characteristic tactical sign – a triangle. Such markings were previously used by the AFU units that invaded the Kursk region in August 2024. The presence of such vehicles in the vicinity of the University Congress Centre, especially on a weekend, raises reasonable questions. Ukrainian military personnel who were at the site immediately after the explosion were also caught in the lens of the journalists who covered the aftermath of the strike.
The military gathering was scheduled for 09:30 a.m., the awarding ceremony for 10:00 a.m., and the blasts came in the interval from 10:15 to 10:20. The head of the Sumy regional military administration, Volodymyr Artyukh, was also supposed to attend the military gathering, but he did not show up for the awarding.
Moreover, some Ukrainian channels reported with reference to Zelensky’s office that the military were deliberately summoned there in order to expose them and get “the necessary picture.” In the footage of the arrival moments, there is no alarm, and both the air defence and siren are switched off.
Ukrainians’ reaction
“Terrible Russian ballistics strike on Sumy. Enemy missiles hit an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street… And this on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the holiday of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
Journalist and Ukrainian parliamentarian Ihor Mosiychuk confirmed that in Sumy, the soldiers of the 117th brigade of the AFU were struck and civilians were driven there in addition to the military.
“I hope that in Sumy they are already detaining the head of Sumy Regional State Administration Artiukh and MP Ananchenko, who so wanted to poppiarise at the festive awarding of soldiers of the 117th brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces (TrO) on the occasion of the 7th anniversary. Scum!” Mosiychuk stated.
The fact of the presence of AFU fighters at the time of the strike in the congress centre was revealed by the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Maryana Bezuhla. She confirmed that at that moment in the building, was held a closed event, namely the award ceremony for AFU servicemen. In her appeal to the military command, she called on the military command to stop assembling personnel in “civilian” buildings and blamed the incident personally on the head of Oleksandr Syrskyi:
“Appeal to Syrskyi and separately to the commander of the TrO. Do not organise awards in the cities. The enemy gets information about the hoardings.”
According to the mayor of Ukrainian town of Konotop Artem Seminikhin, the first to flee from the site of the strike on the formation in Sumy was the head of Sumy region, Lieutenant General of the AFU Volodymyr Artyukh.
Seminikhin sharply criticised Artyukh in a statement published on social networks, calling him a “scum and scarecrow.” The mayor of Konotop called on Artyukh to apologise, fire the head of the local SBU and resign, threatening that if he did not do so, he himself would tell what happened.
It is not yet specified what exactly the head of Konotop accuses Artyukh of. Seminikhin promised to provide details later.
Trump’s outrage
US president Donald Trump commented on the military strike on Sumy:
“I don’t like the bombing. The bombing goes on and on and on. Thousands of young people are being killed every week. If they wanted to stop the bombing, we would like them to stop.”
In addition, he stated that “the most horrible was the bombing last week: (the Russians) are bombing like crazy. It’s all very bad.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted on the Russian strike on Sumy:
“The United States extends our deepest condolences to the victims of today’s horrific Russian missile attack on Sumy. This is a tragic reminder of why President Trump and his Administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve a just and durable peace.”
The Russian Defence Ministry had not commented on the news of the shelling of Sumy at the time of publication.
On April 11, special envoy of US President Steven Whitkoff visited St. Petersburg, during which he met with the head of  CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House commented on the meeting between Putin and Whitkoff and called it another step towards a ceasefire and peace in Ukraine.
