European Union leaders and Britain condemned the Palm Sunday attack on Sumy, while US President Donald Trump called it a ‘mistake’.
Russian forces have intensified their assault on Ukraine’s northeast, striking Sumy and other areas the day after one of the deadliest attacks in recent months killed 35 people in the city and sparked widespread condemnation.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on Monday evening on Telegram that Russian troops had fired a missile at Sumy. It did not immediately report any casualties or destruction. But within 20 minutes, it issued a second update warning that Russian warplanes were dropping guided bombs on the city.
Earlier, Russian shelling in eastern Ukraine killed at least four civilians, authorities confirmed.
In the Kharkiv region, local officials said artillery and rockets struck the town of Kupiansk, a key railway hub briefly seized by Russian forces in 2022 and later recaptured by Ukraine. Overnight, Kharkiv — the country’s second-largest city — was also hit by renewed drone attacks, highlighting Russia’s sustained push to regain territory in the northeast
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 68-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman were killed in Monday’s shelling while a rocket strike claimed the lives of a 77-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man.
Trump says Sumy was Russian ‘mistake’
The attacks follow Sunday’s twin missile strike on the centre of Sumy, where Christian civilians had gathered to mark Palm Sunday before Easter.
Ukrainian officials said at least 35 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the blast. Among the dead were two children.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as a deliberate targeting of civilians. He urged United States President Donald Trump in an interview on the CBS TV network’s 60 Minutes news programme to “please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead”.
Despite the heavy civilian toll, Trump, who has previously faced criticism for his perceived leniency towards Russia and its President Vladimir Putin, said he was “told they made a mistake” regarding the Sumy attack.
Speaking again on Monday alongside El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele in the White House, Trump used the word “mistake” again and blamed Zelenskyy and former US President Joe Biden because they “allowed the war to happen”.
‘Human shields’ claim
The Kremlin said it struck a military target, saying two Iskander-M tactical missiles hit a meeting of Ukrainian officers in Sumy. Moscow also blamed Kyiv for using civilians as “human shields” without providing any evidence.
Russia accused Ukraine of endangering civilians by carrying out military operations in urban areas.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Defence, the Sumy target was part of an operational command centre and the attack killed more than 60 Ukrainian soldiers. There has been no confirmation of that from Ukraine’s side.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski on Monday urged Trump and his advisers to recognise that Putin is “mocking their goodwill”. Several other European Union leaders and the United Kingdom condemned Russia on Sunday.
Russia accuses Germany of escalation
In the meantime, the Kremlin issued warnings to Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, over suggestions that his government might consider sending long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Merz told German media that if there was a consensus among European allies, he would support the move. “That would be one way of finally putting this country [Ukraine] strategically – to stay with the term – ahead of the situation,” he said, adding that he was not convinced that “Putin would react positively to weakness and peace offers”.
Merz called the Sumy attack “a serious war crime”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that such a step would “inevitably lead only to a further escalation” and accused Western leaders of fuelling the war.
Berlin, one of Kyiv’s top arms suppliers, has so far held back from providing Taurus missiles despite repeated Ukrainian appeals.
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