Russia attacks Ukrainian city of Sumy, at least 31 people dead

According to CNN on April 13, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said that at least 84 people were also injured in the attack on the city center of Sumy.

Last week, a Russian missile attack killed 20 people in the city of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the deadly attacks on April 13 and criticized Russia.

A video posted by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko showed firefighters at the scene, putting out fires in cars and evacuating a woman from her home. The city center was devastated, with many buildings destroyed, windows shattered and rubble strewn across the city.

A video posted to Telegram captured the moment the attack happened, accompanied by a loud explosion and a column of black smoke billowing into the sky.

Russia has not commented on this attack.

In recent weeks, Russia has stepped up airstrikes and missile attacks on the Sumy region as its forces have pushed Ukrainian troops back from much of the bordering territory in Russia’s Kursk province. Russian forces have also seized several small settlements within the Sumy region itself.

The attack comes as the US is trying to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

A day before the attack, US President Donald Trump said talks between Russia and Ukraine were going well, but stressed that a solution needed to be reached soon. “There’s going to be a time to either do something or shut up,” he told reporters. “We’ll see, but I think things are going pretty well.”

On April 9, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Russia had launched a spring offensive against the Sumy and Kharkiv provinces – regions located in northeastern Ukraine, bordering Russia.

On the same day, President Zelensky said: “There are currently more than 67,000 Russian soldiers concentrated in the Kursk direction. Russia has completed the transfer of forces to attack in the Sumy direction.”

Meanwhile, according to RT on April 13, the Ukrainian army attacked two energy facilities in Russia's Belgorod province within the past 24 hours.

The attack took place in the context of a phone call on March 18, when Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Mr. Trump's proposal to temporarily halt attacks on energy facilities operated by Kiev and Moscow for 30 days.

President Zelensky also declared that the country would abide by the ceasefire. However, the Russian military later accused Ukrainian forces of violating the ceasefire agreement almost daily.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on April 13: “In violation of the Russia-US agreement, Ukraine continues unilateral attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure.”

On the evening of April 12, more than 600 households in Shebekinsky district (Belgorod province) lost power due to shelling by Ukrainian forces targeting a local energy facility.

On the morning of April 13, another shelling by Kiev forces caused a power outage in the village of Stepnoye, Krasnoyaruzhsky district.

According to the Kremlin, Russia is still observing the ceasefire and has not targeted Ukrainian energy facilities in order to gain goodwill with the US. However, Moscow also warned that it has the right to withdraw from the 30-day agreement if Kiev fails to fulfill its commitments.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had earlier said that Ukraine was deliberately violating the ceasefire in part to sabotage peace initiatives and dialogue between Russia and the United States. Ukraine has not commented on the accusation.