Russian airstrike in downtown Sumy kills 4, including child, injures at least 27

Editor's Note: This is a developing story.

Russia attacked a busy central street in the northeastern city of Sumy the evening of July 3, killing at least four people and injuring 27, regional authorities reported.

Three adults and one child have died, Governor Oleh Hryhorov said. The victims include a 5-year-old girl who medics were unable to resuscitate at the scene of the attack. Her mother, age 34, died alongside her.

A 61-year-old man was also killed in the strike.

Twenty-seven other victims have been injured, including seven children, Hyrhorov said.

Many of the victims have been hospitalized and are in critical condition, according to Serhii Kryvosheienko, head of the Sumy City Military Administration. One of the seriously injured victims is a 16-year-old girl.

"Indescribable pain," Hryhorov wrote on social media. "Our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims. Strength to all who are going through this tragedy today."

Russia launched six guided aerial bombs in an airstrike on a residential neighborhood in central Sumy, Kryvosheienko said.  The strike caused severe damage to civilian infrastructure, including several multistory apartment buildings and shops.

Hryhorov, who described the assault as "a massive attack," said there were many people at the scene, including children.

Hryhorov thanked first responders for rendering speedy assistance in the first minutes after the attack, saying many lives were saved by their actions. A rescue operation is ongoing at the site of the strike.

President Volodymyr Zelensky offered his condolences to the victims of the attack on Sumy and called for international pressure against Russia.

"The Russians used guided aerial bombs directly against ordinary people in the city center," the president said.

"There may still be people trapped under the rubble of a multistory building. ... It is necessary for our partners to put pressure on Russia to stop this terror."

Later in the night, an additional round of explosions rocked Sumy, but the details of the follow-up blasts are not yet clear.

The city of Sumy is located around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border. The region faces daily assaults from nearby Russian forces, including artillery, drone, and guided bomb strikes.

Guided aerial bombs have a shorter range than missiles, but are cheaper to produce. They are launched from aircraft behind the front lines within Russian territory or Russian-occupied territories — beyond the reach of Ukrainian air defense.

The weapons are nearly impossible to shoot down due to their heavy iron construction and their tendency to approach at extremely fast speeds

In spring of 2026, Russia set a new record for guided bomb attacks on Ukraine, dropping 7,987 glide bombs in March alone.