A 13-year-old boy escaped from a burning bus and helped others to safety following a Russian missile strike that killed at least 34 people in the northeastern city of Sumy on Palm Sunday on April 13, local news outlet Kordon Media reported.
Kyrylo Illiashenko and his mother were on a city bus when it was struck and caught fire after the attack.
With the doors jammed shut, Kyrylo climbed out through a shattered window and pulled other surviving passengers from the wreckage, the outlet reported, citing Sumy’s acting mayor, Artem Kobzar.
The boy suffered shrapnel wounds to the head. Doctors have already removed one fragment, and he remains under medical supervision. His mother, Maryna, sustained facial injuries from broken glass and has since been discharged, Kordon Media wrote.
The attack on April 13 marked one of the deadliest in Sumy since the start of the war. According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, the Russian ballistic missile strike killed 34 people, including two children, and injured at least 117 others.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as a deliberate strike on civilians, saying it targeted "ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street." The strike occurred as many Ukrainians were attending Palm Sunday church services.
Despite Kyiv's support for the U.S. offer of a 30-day ceasefire, Moscow has refused and continues to target civilian areas. Videos from the aftermath in Sumy show destroyed vehicles, including a burning car and a severely damaged bus, on a city street strewn with bodies.
Dominic Culverwell
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