Editor's note: An original version of this article stated that every passenger on a bus hit in Russia's missile attack on Sumy had been killed in the strike, but reports the following morning found that a boy had managed to escape and rescue fellow passengers, including his mother.
The burnt shell of a red bus lied in the center of Sumy after Russia launched two ballistic missiles hurtled at city on April 13 — it was believed everyone on the bus had been killed instantly, Anna Shpurik, a journalist at local media Cukr told the Kyiv Independent following the attack.
They are just some of the 34 people killed in the strike, including two children. At least 117 people were injured, local authorities reported.
The city, which lies in northeastern Ukraine just over 30 kilometers from the Russian border, has suffered relentless attacks from Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion. This latest strike occurred on Palm Sunday, which many in Ukraine observe, and is one of the deadliest on Sumy. The attack has sparked outrage amid talks of a ceasefire and peace negotiations.
A day before the attack, President Donald Trump, who has attempted to spearhead peace talks, said negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were "going fine." His Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on April 11 to discuss “aspects of the Ukrainian settlement.”
In response to the attack, European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni, and French President Emmanuel Macron, questioned Russia’s commitment to peace negotiations.
“Such Russian attacks demonstrate the state of Russia’s alleged willingness for peace. Instead, we see that Russia is relentlessly continuing its war of aggression against Ukraine,” Scholz wrote on X.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more pressure on Russia after the strike, saying that “talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs.”
The attack targeted civilian buildings in the city, with the worst damages inflicted on the Congress Center of Sumy State University and other university buildings, causing them to crumble, said Shpurik. The university's Congress Center building houses a library and event spaces for students and the community, Cukr's editor-in-chief Vladyslava Kudielnyk told the Kyiv Independent.
Residential buildings, a church, shops, and businesses also suffered, including Cukr's office. The strike blew out eight windows and broke doors at their office. The head of the Sumy local administration press service told the Kyiv Independent that a total of 48 buildings were damaged in the attack, including 28 residential buildings.
Since 2022, Ukraine has recorded over 1,000 attacks on residential neighborhoods and social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and churches.
The city center was filled with people buying willow branches for Palm Sunday and lined with cars as locals enjoyed their Sunday morning. By the time Shpurik arrived in the center, "everything was black," and it was littered with charred cars and buildings. People were too shocked to say anything, Shpurik recalled.
In a nearby residential building, one girl was crushed beneath a pile of cabinets before being freed. Employees at a nearby coffee shop jumped into action and applied first aid to the victims, said Shpurik.
“Everyone is afraid that the strikes might happen again. Everyone is afraid to find out the news about their relatives. Some people still don't know what happened to their friends or acquaintances and are looking for them,” Kudielnyk said.
The second ballistic missile was the most deadly, Head of the Sumy City Military Administration Serhiy Kryvosheyenko wrote on his Telegram channel. It was loaded with fragments and exploded mid-air to “inflict maximum damage on people on the street,” he said.
Emergency services arrived within minutes to battle the fires and help the victims, while investigators and forensic teams collected evidence of the attack, Ukraine’s State Emergency Services reported. Psychologists were also on site to help those affected.
Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) tracked down the launch site to the town of Liski in Voronezh Oblast and Lezhenki in Kursk Oblast, roughly 330 kilometers and 180 kilometers from Sumy, respectively. The missiles were Iskander-M/KN-23s, fired by the 112th and 448th missile brigades, HUR reported.
Sumy Oblast, alongside neighboring Kharkiv Oblast, is the target of Russia's new spring offensive, Zelensky said on April 9. Despite Ukraine agreeing to a full 30-day ceasefire following U.S.-mediated talks in Jeddah on March 11, Moscow has shown no sign of following suit.
Russia has instead ramped up its offensive operations and amassed forces for the spring offensive, shortly after recapturing much of Kursk Oblast. Ukraine attempted to hold the Russian region to disrupt plans for an offensive against bordering Sumy Oblast.
Ukrainian officials and experts believe the spring offensive is Moscow’s attempt to strengthen its hand in potential negotiations.
Putin also ordered Russia’s largest conscription effort in 14 years on March 31. The spring conscription, running from April to June, will see 160,000 18 to 30-year-old men drafted to the army, although conscripts are not typically deployed to combat.
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Russia has increased its force in Ukraine by five times since the start of the full-scale invasion. He estimates that there are 623,000 Russian troops deployed in Ukraine and warned that Moscow has the capacity to mobilize 5 million trained troops.
“Every month, they increase it by 8,000-9,000; in a year, it's 120,000-130,000,” he said.
Liliane Bivings contributed reporting.
Note from the editor:
For this story, we spoke with journalists at Cukr, an independent Ukrainian media outlet based in Sumy. Their editorial office suffered minor damage from the April 13 attack. Cukr is also one of many Ukrainian media outlets hit by the U.S. aid cutoff and needs support. You can support it through a one-time donation or a Patreon subscription.
Chris York
