'There was blood on the asphalt' — Russia strikes Ukraine's Sumy during morning rush hour
Editor’s note: Cukr journalists contributed to the reporting of this article.
The Ukrainian city of Sumy was once again the target of a devastating Russian missile strike on June 3, with four people killed and 28 others, including three children, injured.
“The body of a man, killed in the attack, lay on the roadway. It was covered with a thermal blanket, weighed down by fire extinguishers and a bottle of water,” Cukr journalist Artem Korol told the Kyiv Independent.
“The air was thick with the smell of fuel, likely spilled from ruptured tanks. Remnants of the munition protruded from the asphalt, and dozens of small potholes in the road emerged around it,” Korol added
Russia launched the attack during rush hour. Anna Shpurik, also a journalist at Cukr, described how she saw the yellow number 55 bus stop at a red light moments before an explosion.
Shell fragments peppered the vehicle but all the passengers survived, the driver escaping with just an injured arm.
Four others were less fortunate, just the latest civilians killed in escalating Russian strikes on the oblast.
Sumy lies in northeastern Ukraine just over 30 kilometers from the Russian border, and has suffered relentless attacks from Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion.
“At about 9 a.m., the Russians launched an insidious attack on the city center. One of the shells hit a busy road, right during the morning rush hour. People were just going about their daily business,” Oleh Hryhorov, head of Sumy Regional State Administration, said on Facebook.
Russia launched five attacks on Sumy using multiple launch rocket systems, according to local authorities.
The attack set two cars ablaze, destroying them completely. A medical facility and residential buildings, a private house, and non-residential buildings were also damaged.
Sumy Oblast has recently seen renewed hostilities as Russian forces ramp up activity along the northeastern border.
In late May, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia is accumulating 50,000 troops near Sumy Oblast, seeking to create a 10-kilometer buffer zone in the area.
But even with the escalating recent attacks and tensions, the timing and brutality of the attack still shocked those in Sumy.
“No one ever expects this,” Ihor Klymenko, head of the Prolisok humanitarian center in Sumy Oblast, told the Kyiv Independent.
“It was a fully deliberate attack on civilians.”
"People are a little nervous and in a state of shock because it is the city center during a working day."
When Klymenko arrived at the scene "the cars were still running, and there was blood on the asphalt".
"Leaves had fallen from the explosions, all covered in glass and blood," he added.
Later that morning, shops, kiosks, and a pharmacy were already open and operating along the street that was hit. After the blast shattered windows, employees swept up glass and talked on the phone with their relatives, assuring them they were safe, Shpurik said.
The attack came amid ongoing talks of a ceasefire and peace negotiations. A day before, on June 2, Russia and Ukraine held a second round of talks in Istanbul, which focused on a new prisoner exchange, but yet again failed to achieve a breakthrough in peace efforts.
"The Russians launched a savage strike on Sumy — directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery. It was a fully deliberate attack on civilians," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.
According to Zelensky, at least one of the projectiles used by Russia in the attack on Sumy failed to detonate, piercing the wall of a nine-story apartment building.
"That alone says everything one needs to know about Russia’s so-called 'desire' to end this war," he said.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek