The death toll in the Russian rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Palm Sunday has reached 34.
Local officials said two ballistic missiles around 10.30 am local time struck the heart of the city when people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Images from the scene showed lines of black body bags on the side of the road, while more bodies were in foil blankets under the rubble. Another 117 people were injured, including 15 children.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack that Russia accused of “flagrant contempt for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts”.
Early for the attack, US President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday evening that the rockets were perhaps “a mistake”.
“I think it's terrible and I was told that they made a mistake, but I think it's a terrible thing. I think the entire war is terrible,” he told reporters on Air Force One when he returned to Washington. He did not clarify if he said the attack was unintentionally.
US President Donald Trump speaks with the reporters on board Air Force One (Pool Via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the strike undermines peace talks between the two parties by the Washington.
He said: “Everyone knows: This war was only initiated by Russia, and today it is clear that only Russia chooses to continue – with flagrant contempt for human lives, international law and diplomatic efforts of President Trump.”
Video images also showed firefighters while they fought to extinguish the shells of burned -out cars between the rubble of damaged buildings.
The attack on Sumy is the second large -scale attack to claim a civilian lives in just over a week, after a fatal rocket attack on the birthplace of the Lord Zelensky of Kryvyi Rih on April 4, including nine children killed.
The strike focused on the center of Sumy on Sunday morning (AP)
The Ukrainian President VolodyMyr Zensky confirmed that rescue efforts are underway and he said that “dozens” were killed in the double rocket attack.
“According to provisional information, dozens of citizens were killed and injured,” he said.
“Only filthy scum can work in this way – taking the lives of ordinary people.”
In a statement on social media, he said that the first strike buildings of a city university heat, while the second exploded above street level.
The Lord Zensky called for a worldwide reaction to the attack and added: “Conversations never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs. What is needed is an attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves.”
The city center in the aftermath of the Russian rocket attack that killed at least 34 burgers in Sumy, Ukraine (AP)
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a 62-year-old woman was killed in Russian shelling in the city of Kherson, said regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
The mayor of the city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said that a Russian strike had hit a kindergarten, crushed windows and damaged the facade of the building. No victims were reported.
It comes less than a day after the best diplomats of Russia and Ukraine accused each other of violating a provisional American reversed deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure, underlining the challenges of negotiating the three-year war.
The ministers of the two countries spoke at individual events at the annual Antalya Diplacy Forum, a day after the American envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace prospects.
“The Ukrainians have attacked us from the very beginning, every day, perhaps with two or three exceptions,” said the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, adding that Moscow would have been featuring a list of KYIV's attacks in the past three weeks.
His Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, fiercely disputed that claim and said on Saturday that Russia had “almost 70 missiles, more than 2,200 (exploding) drones and more than 6,000 guided air bombs in Ukraine, usually with civilians”, since then in accordance with the limited break.
