Deadly Russian drone strike targets Sumy shopping center, killing 2, injuring 20, including 3 children

Editor's Note: This is a developing story.

Russian forces struck a shopping and entertainment center in the northeastern city of Sumy on Sept. 9, killing at least two and injuring 20, including three children, local authorities said.

A Russian drone hit Sumy's Manufactura mall near the city's center, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. Footage released by the agency shows firefighters battling flames engulfing cars, debris strewn through parking lots, and the blood of victims pooling on asphalt outside the mall. All sources of fire have reportedly been extinguished.

Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on Telegram that the attack killed two people, both 21 years old.

Another 20 people were injured, Hryhorov said, with two men and one woman in serious condition and another woman in extremely critical condition. Three girls, aged 15-16, are among the injured.

Fourteen people have been hospitalized, the governor said.

The deadly strike in Sumy comes as Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine's supermarkets and shopping centers — even during the day, when stores are crowded with civilians.

In August 2026, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was deliberately targeting supermarket warehouses, distribution centers, and stores. Later that month, Russia launched a daytime drone strike on a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, killing 16 people and injuring 130 others, including 23 children.

The latest attack in Sumy follows a U.S.-brokered peace push in Kyiv and Moscow on Sept. 6-7. While the visit revived a stagnant diplomatic process, it failed to yield a breakthrough or stop Russian missiles from raining on Ukraine in the following days.

"Now, it is crucial for all partners to focus and work on the necessary steps to de-escalate the situation and stop the killings," Zelensky said on Telegram Sept. 9 after the strike on Sumy. "Terrorism is always a threat to many, and we must counter it together."

While the visit by American envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff provided a brief respite from Moscow's attacks, Russia has been using Ukraine's severe shortage of air defense systems to pummel cities across the nation all summer.

July of 2026 saw the most civilians killed or injured in Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported on Aug. 13.