Russian missile strike wounds 106 in Sumy city centre, including 23 chhildren
At least 106 people, including 23 children, were injured by a Russian missile strike on the centre of the city of Sumy, the Sumy City Council reported.
Investigators confirmed that Russia launched a missile attack on a residential area in Sumy on 24 March 25 2025, at approximately 14:00.
The local authorities said a school, hospital, and apartment blocks were damaged. Local journalists noted that no air-raid warning preceded the attack.
According to the latest data from the Health Department, 106 people -83 adults and 23 children—have sought medical treatment.
A total of 690 windows were shattered in non-residential buildings, while 691 windows in flats, 443 balconies and 335 windows in public places were damaged in the residential area. Roofs were affected in eight apartment buildings and four houses, with four of the apartment buildings requiring major repairs.
Earlier, the prosecutor’s office reported that on March 23, 2025, Russians shelled and dropped guided aerial bombs on civilian infrastructure in the Myropilska hromadaі of the Sumy District. The attack resulted in the death of a 61-year-old store vendor and injuries to another individual. The shelling also caused damage and destruction to several private houses in the area.
ZMINA consistently reports on ongoing international crimes in the Sumy Oblast.
Ukraine’s top officials condemned the strike. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha used the incident to challenge Russia’s claims of seeking peace. Sybiha pointedly noted that Moscow claims to seek peace while simultaneously launching brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities.
“The international community must increase the pressure on Russia to stop the aggression and ensure justice and save the lives of Ukrainians,” Shmyhal called on the countries on X.
Meanwhile, a senior MP from President Zelensky’s party, Oleksandr Merezhko, called for US envoy Steve Witkoff to be removed from peace talks following his interview with journalist Tucker Carlson.
In the interview, Witkoff made several false claims about Ukraine and repeated various Russian arguments, including that Ukraine was “a false country”. He also asked when the world would recognise occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.
Merezhko heads the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee and calls Witkoff’s remarks “shameful and shocking.”
“I don’t know if it’s naivety, ignorance or lack of professionalism,” Merezhko told Radio Liberty. “As a presidential representative, it is his job to know certain basic, obvious things. He doesn’t. He rebroadcasts Russian propaganda,” Merezhko stated.
“Of course, we cannot dictate to our American friends who will represent them. But that man must be removed from their delegation. He cannot be a presidential representative because he is either absolutely unprofessional or simply repeating Putin’s narratives,” Merezhko added.
Representatives from Kyiv and Washington met on March 23 for talks, which Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov hailed as “productive,” though no details of those discussions have been released. On May 24, Moscow and Washington teams held separate talks in Riyadh.
By way of background, Ukraine urges the international community to unite to restore global security under the UN Charter and strengthen sanctions against Russia to enforce compliance with international law. Following Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, Ukraine has pursued the liberation of its territories within its internationally recognised 1991 borders while developing comprehensive reintegration strategies and policies for all liberated areas.
Earlier, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industry workers continue operating, many without international restrictions.
