Ukraine: More than 30 killed in Russian strike on Sumy

Russia's strikes on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy constitute a "serious war crime," Germany's Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said on Sunday.

"It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended," Merz told German public broadcaster ARD.

The chancellor-in-waiting added that he would deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine if this is coordinated at a European level. The Ukrainian government has been asking Germany for the missiles for months, but outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has been reluctant to provide them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that not enough pressure was put on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, while simultaneously thanking all world leaders who issued statements of solidarity following the Sumy attack.

"I would like to thank everyone who remembers that wars end when the crimes of war are not forgotten – and when the aggressor is met with enough pressure. And that’s exactly what’s missing right now," Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on the website of the Ukrainian presidency.

The Russian attack on Sumy killed 34 people, the president said, raising an earlier death toll. He said the attack involved two Russian ballistic missiles, with some 117 people wounded, including children.

"This Friday marked exactly one month since Russia spurned the US proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire. They are not afraid. That’s why they keep launching ballistic missiles," Zelenskyy said. "Only pressure – only decisive action – can change this."

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Sunday that it would be hosting a meeting of international military representatives in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss security in the Black Sea following any potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

"A meeting will be held on April 15-16 at the Naval Forces Headquarters regarding the security of the Black Sea following a possible ceasefire between the Russian Federation and Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement.

The announcement did not specify which nations would be taking part, but the Defense Ministry did confirm that Russia and Ukraine themselves would not be represented.

European leaders have joined French President Emmanuel Macron in condemning the deadly Russian missile strike on the city of Sumy on Sunday – as has US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine.

"This latest deadly attack is a stark reminder of the continued bloodshed perpetrated by [Russian President] Putin," said "appalled" British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"[Ukrainian] President Zelenskyy has shown his commitment to peace, President Putin must now agree to a full and immediate ceasefire without conditions – as Ukraine has done."

Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the attack "barbaric" and said: "Such attacks show Russia's claim to want peace for what it really is."

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the strike a "horrific attack" that was "not the act of a country that seeks peace," while Poland's Donald Tusk sarcastically criticized "the Russian version of a ceasefire" on "Bloody Palm Sunday."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also slammed the "horrible and cowardly Russian attack" which European Council President Antonio Costa described as "criminal."

Elsewhere, US President Trump's special envoy to Kyiv, retired lieutenant general Keith Kellogg, said the missile strike against civilian targets "crosses any line of decency," writing on social media: "As a former military leader, I understand targeting and this is wrong."

French President Emmanuel Macron has stressed the urgency of imposing a ceasefire on Russia following the deadly missile strike on Sumy.

"Everyone knows it is Russia alone that wants this war. Today it is clear that Russia alone wants to continue with it, showing its scorn for human life, international law and diplomatic efforts made by President (Donald) Trump," Macron wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"Strong measures are needed to impose a ceasefire on Russia. France is working tirelessly toward this goal, alongside its partners," he added.

 Kyiv's state emergency service has raised the death toll from Sunday's Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Sumy to 31.

 "As of 13:40 (1040GMT), 31 people were killed, including 2 children,"it said on social media, adding that "84 people were injured, including 10 children."

People were out and about in the streets of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, when two Russian ballistic missiles struck. DW has more.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and called for the international community to respond.

"According to preliminary information, dozens of civilians were killed and wounded. Only filthy scum can act like this — taking the lives of ordinary people," he said.

"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 aerial bombs," he wrote.

The ballistic missile strike hit streets, residential buildings, an educational facility and multiple vehicles just as people were heading to church for Palm Sunday before the Easter holiday, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine's air force said 43 drones of 55 launched by Russia overnight to Sunday had been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses.

It said the drones were targeting northern, southern and central areas of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said 12 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Rostov region and one over the Belgorod region.

Drones have featured large in the conflict in Ukraine, with both sides using them to carry out attacks, sometimes on very remote targets.

The Kremlin has said that relations between Moscow and Washington were progressing very well since US President Donald Trump took office for a second time in January.

It said, however, that there had been serious damage to bilateral ties under the previous administration of former President Joe Biden.  

"Everything is going very well," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a reporter from Russian state television.

"The fact is that reanimating relations from scratch is a very difficult task, requiring very intense diplomatic and other efforts."

There have been several contacts between US and Russian officials since Trump returned to the White House, and the US has been leading attempts to bring about peace talks aiming to end the conflict in Ukraine.
 

More than 20 people were killed when two Russian ballistic missiles struck the center of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, the city's acting mayor and Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office said.

The missiles hit at around 10:15 a.m. local time (0715 GMT) while people were gathering to celebrate the Christian feast of Palm Sunday.

"On this bright Palm Sunday, our community has suffered a terrible tragedy," Acting Mayor Artem Kobzar said in a statement on social media. "Unfortunately, we already know of more than 20 deaths."

The Prosecutor General's Office said initial investigations had shown that at least 21 people were killed and 34 injured in the attack. The toll of injured was later raised to 83 by the Interior Ministry, with seven children among the casualties.
 

Ukraine is continuing to defend itself from an invasion by neighboring Russia launched more than three years ago.

Sunday has seen another deadly missile attack by Russian forces on a Ukrainian city, with more than 20 people reported dead in Sumy.

Russia's Defense Ministry has meanwhile reported that its troops have captured another village in Ukraine's Donetsk region.

You can read about these and other developments in DW's rolling coverage of events.