More than 20 civilians have been killed in a Russian missile strike on Ukrainian city of Sumy.
Oleksandr Lysenko, Sumy’s acting Mayor said in statement that two Russian ballistic missiles hit the city as local people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday “On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy,”
“Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths.”
The strike is coming less than a day after Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the three-year war.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky who condemned the strike said Russia hit the centre of Sumy “on the day when people go to church – Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem.
“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,” Zelensky says.
He added that “talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs”.
The president says the missile hit “an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street” and that a rescue operation is now under way.
The president calls for “a tough reaction from the world”.
