Russia confronted worldwide condemnation after a Sunday strike on Ukraine that claimed the lives of at the very least 34 individuals.
World leaders denounced the missile assault – one of many worst in latest months – as U.S. President Donald Trump labeled the assault a “horrible thing” and a “mistake.”
Two ballistic missiles hit the middle of the northeastern metropolis of Sumy, near the Russian border, on Sunday morning, killing 34 and wounding greater than 100 others, Ukrainian authorities mentioned.
The strike got here two days after U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Russia to satisfy President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to finish the greater than three-year conflict.
“I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,” U.S. President Trump instructed reporters on board Air Force One whereas headed again to Washington on Sunday night.
Asked to make clear what he meant by a “mistake,” Trump mentioned that “they made a mistake … you’re gonna ask them” – with out specifying who or what he was referring to.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio referred to as the assault “horrifying” and a “tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged Trump to go to his nation to know higher the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.
“Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,” he mentioned, in keeping with a transcript of an interview broadcast on CBS.
Zelenskyy harassed that the assault occurred on Palm Sunday, a serious Christian feast.
“Only completely deranged scum can do something like this,” he mentioned in his Sunday night handle.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed and shocked” by the strike, which highlighted a “devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric mentioned.
It was the second Russian assault this month to trigger a big civilian loss of life toll. An assault on Zelenskyy’s residence metropolis of Kryvyi Rih killed at the very least 18 individuals, together with 9 kids.
Trump is pushing for a fast finish to the conflict, with the United States holding direct talks with Russia regardless of its unrelenting assaults on Ukraine.
Washington has additionally held talks with Ukrainian officers on a possible truce, whereas European nations are discussing a army deployment to bolster any Ukraine cease-fire.
Kyiv has beforehand agreed to a U.S.-proposed unconditional cease-fire however Moscow has turned it down.
Zelenskyy referred to as on the United States and Europe to provide a “strong response” to Russia, including: “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.”
Trump has beforehand voiced anger at Russia for “bombing like crazy” in Ukraine.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the strike on Sumy confirmed Russia’s “blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned he was “appalled” by the assault, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a “cowardly” act by Russia.
Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described it as “a serious war crime, deliberate and intended.”
Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in latest weeks.
Sumy has been below growing stress since Moscow pushed again lots of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk area inside Russia, throughout the border.
Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow might mount an offensive on town.
Russia launched its invasion partially by way of the Sumy area and briefly occupied components of it earlier than being pushed again by Ukrainian forces.
On Sunday, Russia mentioned it captured one other village in jap Ukraine’s Donetsk area.
Source: www.dailysabah.com