Russian Missile Strike on Sumy City Kills 21 Civilians, Ukraine Says

A Russian ballistic missile attack on the center of Ukraine’s city of Sumy on Sunday killed at least 21 people and wounded 20 others, Ukraine’s state emergency service said.

“Russia hit the city center with ballistic missiles. Right when there were many people on the street,” the service said on social media. “According to preliminary data, 21 people have been killed and at least 20 more wounded so far.”

Eighty-three people were wounded, including seven children, the interior ministry said, adding that rescue operations were ongoing.

Sumy lies close to the Russian border and has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back much of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region across the border.

“Many dead today as a result of a missile strike,” the acting mayor of Sumy, Artyom Kobzar, said on social media, placing the preliminary death toll at “more than 20” civilians.

Unverified images on social media showed burnt-out cars and plumes of smoke rising into the air.

“A terrible Russian ballistic missile strike on Sumy,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, placing the toll at “dozens of dead and wounded civilians.”

“And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday… Only bastards can do this,” Zelensky wrote.

Sumy lies some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the border.

Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on Sumy.

Last month Russia claimed the capture of a village in the Sumy region for the first time since the early days of its 2022 invasion.

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