‘Only filthy scum can act like this’: Zelenskyy condemns Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Sumy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the Russian missile attack in Ukraine as “horrific”, stating that it struck an “ordinary city street killing dozens” adding that rescue efforts are ongoing. At least 20 people were killed and 83 others injured – including seven children – after a ballistic missile attack on the north-eastern city of Sumy on Sunday morning, Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said.
“According to preliminary information, dozens of civilians were killed and wounded. Only filthy scum can act like this — taking the lives of ordinary people,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X, sharing a disturbing video showing bodies lying on the ground and burnt vehicles strewn across the city street.
“Russian missiles hit an ordinary city street, ordinary life – residential buildings, educational institutions, cars on the street… And that’s on the day when people go to church – Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem,” Zelenskyy said.
Urging the world leaders to “respond firmly” to the assault, Zelenskyy said, “The world must respond firmly. The United States, Europe, everyone in the world who wants this war and these killings to end. Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging this war out.”
He added. “Without pressure on Russia, peace is impossible. Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and aerial bombs. What’s needed is an attitude toward Russia that a terrorist deserves.”
The strike comes less than a day after Russia and Ukraine’s top diplomats accused each other of violating a tentative US-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underscoring the challenges of negotiating an end to the 3-year-old war.
The two countries’ foreign ministers spoke at separate events at the annual Antalya Diplomacy Forum, a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.
“The Ukrainians have been attacking us from the very beginning, every passing day, maybe with two or three exceptions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would provide the US, Turkey and international bodies with a list of Kyiv’s attacks during the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, fiercely contested that claim, saying Saturday that Russia had launched “almost 70 missiles, over 2,200 (exploding) drones, and over 6,000 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine, mostly at civilians”, since agreeing to the limited pause on strikes.
The attack on Sumy is the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week, following a deadly missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on April 4 that killed some 20 people, including nine children. The United Nations reported at least 11,743 deaths and over 24,600 injuries in the war as of August 2024.
