Russian strikes kill three in Sumy as Ukraine hits back

Shafaq News

2 days ago

Shafaq News/ A Russian missile assault on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Tuesday killed at least three civilians and injured dozens, according to local officials, marking yet another deadly escalation in the nearly three-year-long conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as a deliberate attack on civilians, saying the assault 'once again proves that Russia has no intention of ending this war.'
'The Russians brutally struck Sumy — directly targeting the city, ordinary streets — with rocket artillery,' he wrote on Telegram.
Zelenskyy called for decisive action from the United States, Europe, and other global powers, warning that without international resolve, Russian President Vladimir Putin 'will not agree even to a ceasefire.'
Local authorities in Sumy reported that multiple rockets struck residential buildings and a medical facility in the city center.
The attack comes just one day after renewed peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul failed to produce tangible progress toward ending the conflict.
In a countermeasure, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced it had launched a covert operation that damaged the foundations of the strategically vital Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to the Crimean Peninsula — annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The SBU said the operation involved 1,100 kilograms (2,400 pounds) of explosives placed on the seabed beneath the bridge, executed after months of planning. The agency claimed this was the third successful Ukrainian strike on the bridge since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
'The bridge is now effectively in an emergency condition,' the SBU said, emphasizing that no civilians were harmed.
The latest developments follow a dramatic weekend drone offensive by Ukraine deep inside Russian territory. Ukrainian officials claimed the assault destroyed or severely damaged more than 40 military aircraft stationed at several airbases — a major psychological and strategic blow to Moscow.
Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged that fires were started at two bases but claimed it had repelled additional drone attacks at three others.
The United Nations estimates that more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the conflict began, with tens of thousands of soldiers dead on both sides across the sprawling 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
Despite recent US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire, progress remains elusive. Ukraine has reportedly agreed to a proposed truce, but Moscow has rejected any peace settlement not aligned with its terms.
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy head of the Security Council, reiterated the Kremlin's hardline position on Tuesday.
'The Istanbul talks are not for striking a compromise peace on someone else's delusional terms but for ensuring our swift victory and the complete destruction of Ukraine's government,' he said.
Meanwhile, Talk of a potential trilateral meeting involving Zelenskyy, Putin, and US President Donald Trump has surfaced in recent days, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the idea, calling such a summit 'unlikely in the near future.'