By LORNE COOK
BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia on Monday claimed its lethal missile assault on Ukraine’s Sumy that killed and wounded scores together with kids had focused a gathering of Ukrainian troops, whereas European leaders condemned the assault as a battle crime.
Ukrainian officers have stated two ballistic missiles on Palm Sunday morning hit the center of Sumy, a metropolis lower than 20 miles from Ukraine’s border with Russia, killing not less than 34, together with two kids, and wounding 119. It was the second large-scale assault to say civilian lives in Ukraine in simply over every week.
Requested in regards to the assault, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Russia’s army solely strikes army targets. Russia’s Protection Ministry stated the strike focused a gathering of senior army officers and accused Kyiv of utilizing civilians as shields by holding army conferences within the metropolis’s middle.
The ministry claimed to kill over 60 troops. Russia gave no proof to again its claims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has referred to as for a world response to the assault, saying the primary strike hit college buildings and the second exploded above avenue stage. “Solely actual stress on Russia can cease this. We want tangible sanctions towards these sectors that finance the Russian killing machine,” he wrote Monday on social media.
Polish Overseas Minister Radek Sikorski, whose nation holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, referred to as the assaults “Russia’s mocking reply” to Kyiv’s settlement to a ceasefire proposed by the U.S. over a month in the past.
“I hope that President Trump, the U.S. administration, see that the chief of Russia is mocking their goodwill, and I hope the appropriate selections are taken,” Sikorski instructed reporters in Luxembourg, the place EU international ministers met.
Finnish Overseas Minister Elina Valtonen famous that the assault on Sumy got here shortly after President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It demonstrates that “Russia exhibits full disregard for the peace course of, but in addition that Russia has zero regard for human life,” Valtonen stated.
Lithuania’s international minister, Kestutis Budrys, echoed Ukraine’s assertion that the Russian strike used cluster munitions to focus on civilians, calling it “a battle crime by definition.” The Related Press has been unable to confirm that declare.
French Overseas Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated the assault exhibits that Putin has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire, and referred to as for the European Union to “take the hardest sanctions towards Russia to suffocate its economic system and forestall it from fueling its battle effort.”
The EU has imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia and is engaged on a seventeenth, however the measures are getting tougher to agree on as a result of in addition they impression European economies.
Germany’s chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, described the Sumy assault as “a severe battle crime” throughout an look on ARD tv.
Merz made clear he stands by his previous calls to ship Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, one thing that outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. He stated the Ukrainian army wants to have the ability to “get forward of the state of affairs” and that any supply of long-range missiles have to be executed in session with European companions.
Requested about Merz’s assertion, the Kremlin spokesman stated such a transfer would “inevitably lead solely to additional escalation of the state of affairs round Ukraine,” telling reporters that “regrettably, European capitals aren’t inclined to seek for methods to launch peace talks and are inclined as a substitute to maintain scary the continuation of the battle.”
Russian forces this month have dropped 2,800 air bombs on Ukraine and fired greater than 1,400 strike drones and practically 60 missiles of assorted varieties.
The assault on Sumy adopted a April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 individuals, together with 9 kids.
Trump has beforehand described the strike on Sumy as a “mistake.” On Monday, he stated the error was permitting the battle to start out within the first place, criticizing former President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy and Putin.
“Biden might’ve stopped it and Zelenskyy might’ve stopped it and Putin ought to’ve by no means began it,” Trump stated within the Oval Workplace. “Everyone’s accountable.”
Late Sunday, Russian exploding drones attacked Odesa, injuring eight individuals. Regional head Oleh Kiper stated a medical facility was among the many buildings broken.
Russia fired a complete of 62 Shahed drones over Ukraine late Sunday and early Monday, Ukraine’s air drive stated, including that 40 had been destroyed and 11 others jammed.
Related Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sam McNeil in Barcelona, Spain, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
Observe AP’s protection of the battle in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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