Russian missiles struck the heart of the Ukrainian city of Sumy as residents gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 people just days after Donald Trump’s envoy met Vladimir Putin for peace talks.
Two ballistic weapons hit the city centre at about 10:15 am local time [GMT 07:15] on one of busiest church-going days of the year, destroying a bus and several cars.
Pictures from the scene showed lines of black body bags on the side of the road and bodies wrapped in foil blankets.
The dead included two children, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a statement. A further 117 people were wounded, including 15 children.
“Only filthy scum can act like this – taking the lives of ordinary people,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What's needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves.”
Emmanuel Macron said that it undermined Washington-led peace talks between the two sides.
“Everyone knows this war was initiated by Russia alone,” the French president said. “And it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it – with blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump.”
Sir Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack, calling it “a stark reminder of the continued bloodshed perpetrated by Vladimir Putin”.
European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said it was “barbaric” and “even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday”.
She added: “Russia was and remains the aggressor, in blatant violation of international law. Europe stands with Ukraine and President Zelensky.”
Andriy Kovalenko, a security official who runs Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, noted that the strike came after a visit to Russia by US envoy Steve Witkoff for talks with top officials including Mr Putin.
“Russia is building all this so-called diplomacy ... around strikes on civilians,” he wrote on Telegram.
The head of the Ukrainian president's office, Andriy Yermak, said the strike also used cluster munitions to kill as many people as possible, although it was not immediately possible to verify the claim.
The attack on Sumy followed a deadly missile strike on Mr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih on 4 April that killed 20 people, including nine children.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine had been attacking Russia “every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions”, adding that Moscow would provide the US, Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv's attacks during the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, contested that claim, saying on Saturday that Russia had launched almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 suicide drones and more than 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, “mostly at civilians” since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.
Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, and Kyiv has warned that Moscow is planning a fresh spring offensive to ramp up pressure on its foe and improve its negotiating position.
Ukraine has endorsed a broader US ceasefire proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Mr Putin of dragging his feet.
General Keith Kellogg, Mr Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, said the Sumy attack crossed “any line of decency” and that the White House remained committed to ending the conflict.
Sumy, with a population of around 250,000 and located just over 24km (15 miles) from the Russian border, became a garrison city when Kyiv's forces launched an incursion into Russia last August that has since been largely repelled.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a 62-year-old woman and a 48-year-old man were killed in Russian attacks on the Kherson region, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Sunday. Another person was killed during Russian shelling on the Donetsk region.
The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said a Russian strike had hit one of the city's kindergartens, shattering windows and damaging the building's facade but no casualties were reported.
Reuters and AP contributed to this report
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