Ukraine strikes missile brigade accused of Sumy massacre

Yahoo

16-04-2025

Ukraine has struck the headquarters of a Russian brigade that Kyiv said was behind a devastating strike on civilians in Sumy, according to reports.
The 112th Guards Missile Brigade, a unit long accused of deliberately bombing civilians, was reportedly hit by drones early on Wednesday in Russia's Ivanovo region, 500 miles from Ukraine, in an apparent revenge attack.
Footage taken by local residents showed a large UAV crashing into a building, triggering a large explosion.
Russia said it had downed seven large drones in the Ivanovo region, but did not mention the missile brigade and sought to downplay the damage.
Hours earlier, Ukraine bombarded the base of Russia's 448th missile brigade. Footage showed a huge fire roaring at the base in Kursk late last night.
On Palm Sunday, two Russian Iskander ballistics missiles exploded in the centre of Sumy, killing at least 34 people, injuring more than 100 and sparking widespread condemnation from Kyiv and its allies.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's military intelligence, said that the 112th and the 448th missile brigades were responsible for the 'war crime' and vowed to retaliate.
Yesterday The Telegraph revealed the identities of the 112th brigade commanders accused of slaughtering Ukrainian civilians.
We'll be back soon with more updates and analysis from the war in Ukraine.
Russia has broken the US-backed energy ceasefire more than 30 times since March, Ukraine claimed on Wednesday.
Heorhii Tykhyi, Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson, said that Moscow has attacked energy facilities in Kherson and Mykolaiv in the south and Poltava in the centre of the country over the past 24 hours
He added that Russia has violated the energy ceasefire since it began on 25 March 'almost on a daily basis'.
'Not even one month has passed since the agreement was made, but Russia has already violated this agreement over 30 times,' he said.
Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of violating the US-brokered 30-day limited ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes.
The former governor of Russia's Kursk region was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of fraud, according to state media.
TASS reported that Alexei Smirnov, who resigned over his handling of the Ukrainian invasion of the region in December last year, is 'suspected of fraud'.
It cited law enforcement as saying both he and his former first deputy, Alexei Dedov, have been detained as a result. No further details were shared.
Mr Smirnov was head of the western region when Ukrainian troops stormed across the border in a large-scale incursion in August 2024. Since then, a ruthless Russian offensive has ejected most of the Ukrainian forces.
Russia will hold talks with Qatar's Emir in Moscow on Thursday to find a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has announced.
The Kremlin said that Putin's talks with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani would focus on 'topical issues' with an emphasis on trade as well as on a number of issues on the international agenda.
'There will definitely be an exchange of views between Putin and the Emir of Qatar on Ukrainian affairs,' Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, told reporters, adding that they will also discuss regional affairs.
'The region is replete with conflict potential. And Qatar plays a very big and important role in attempts to resolve many situations,' Mr Peskov added.
Qatar has made a series of attempts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, and has helped arrange the return of children from both countries who were separated from their parents throughout the conflict.
There has been 'significant progress' in ongoing talks between Kyiv and Washington on US-proposed mineral deal, Ukraine's economy minister has said.
Yulia Svyrydenko said that Kyiv's legal teams had 'adjusted several items within the draft agreement' , describing the development as a 'positive new step'.
'Our technical teams have worked very thoroughly together on the agreement, and there is significant progress,' she wrote on X.
'We have now agreed with the American side to record this progress in the relevant memorandum of intent. We are preparing to complete the formalisation of the agreement in the near future.'
Ms Svyrydenko added that the agreement will 'create opportunities for investment and development in Ukraine and establish conditions for tangible economic growth for both Ukraine and the United States.'
Negotiations on Black Sea security are underway in Ankara and could shape the region's post-war stability, the Ukrainian president has said.
Volodymyr Zelensky had talks with the UK, France, and Turkey to discuss the deployment of foreign military personnel to safeguard Black Sea waters.
'This is not about ending the war, this is about what will happen after the cease-fire - security guarantees,' said Mr Zelensky.
He added that Turkey could play a key role in future regional security guarantees and stressed the importance of a military presence to protect coastal cities such as Odesa and Mykolaiv.
Donald Trump's most senior envoys will travel to Paris on Wednesday for talks with European counterparts over the future of Ukraine, the US state department has said.
The talks led by Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, and Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, are set to last until Friday.
Mr Rubio and Mr Witkoff will engage with European leaders 'to advance President Trump's goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war and stop the bloodshed', the department said in a statement.
'They will also discuss ways to advance shared interests in the region,' it added.
Youths in Ukraine are being trained for combat, it has been reported.
An organisation called Centuria, founded in 2020 by Azov Brigade veterans, is training Ukrainians youths as young as 14 in military and combat medical training.
The training sessions do not involve live ammunition.
The organisation has more than 3,000 members across several Ukrainian cities.
The Kremlin has declined to specify when a 30-day halt on strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure would end - or whether it would be extended - just hours before the agreement was set to expire.
Vladimir Putin said on March 18 he had ordered his army to halt attacks on energy targets after speaking with Donald Trump. However, Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow of breaching that truce.
'We'll keep you informed. I am not yet ready to tell you what decision has been made,' Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, told reporters when he was asked about its expiration.
No formal agreement between Moscow and Kyiv was ever put in place and there are competing accounts of when each side's commitment to stop such strikes came into force.
The Russian military said its air defence forces had destroyed seven Ukrainian drones over Russia's Ivanovo region, the location of one of two missile brigades which Kyiv accuses of a deadly weekend attack on the city of Sumy.
Russia's defence ministry, which claims the Sumy attack targeted a meeting of Ukrainian military officers, said that Wednesday's attempted Ukrainian strike on Ivanovo had been conducted by aeroplane-style drones in the morning.
It did not specifically mention the missile brigade based in the region, but local media reported it had been the intended target.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
'According to operational data from headquarters, there were no fatalities and two lightly injured people received medical assistance,' the local government of the Ivanovo region said in a statement.
Vladimir Putin will discuss Ukraine and other issues when he holds talks with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Moscow.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Qatar played a very big and important role in trying to settle many different situations.
The US appears to have significantly reduced the amount of money it wants Ukraine to pay back for its support in the war with Russia.
Following a round of negotiations in Washington last week, the Trump administration reduced its estimated cost of US military assistance to Kyiv to $100 billion (£75bn) from $300 billion (£226bn), people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News.
Mr Trump is pushing Kyiv to sign a deal to share the profits on Ukraine's rare minerals, as well as infrastructure, in a bid to recoup the billions given in aid and weapons to the war-torn country under the Biden administration.
Mr Zelensky has rejected the description of US aid as debt and is seeking better terms on the deal, which gives Ukraine no future security guarantees.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said the negotiations on the deal were 'positive' and more meetings were expected. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, told Bloomberg News that the fractious deal could be signed 'as early as this week'.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 97 drones in a heavy night of attacks.
It said it shot down 57 drones, with another 34 not reaching their targets likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining six drones.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff are expected to travel to Paris later this week.
Mr Witkoff is set to meet Emmanuel Macron, while Mr Rubio will speak with his French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, sources familiar with the trip told Politico.
An official said the two sides will discuss Ukraine, Iran and trade relations in the wake of Donald Trump's worldwide tariff threats.
The French president's meeting with Mr Witkoff will come only days after the envoy met with Vladimir Putin in Moscow to try to push forward with ceasefire negotiations which has stalled in recent weeks.
Credit: Reuters
Ukraine reportedly targeted another Russian brigade accused of conducting a deadly strike on the city of Sumy on Palm Sunday.
The base of the 112th missile brigade, a unit accused of deliberately targeting civilians, was attacked with drones early on Wednesday, according to local witnesses.
The reports came hours after Ukraine said it had struck Russia's 448th brigade, the other unit said to be responsible for Sunday's attack on Sumy that killed at least 34 people, injured more than 100 and sparked outrage from Kyiv and its allies.
Footage taken by local residents showed a large aerial drone crashing into a building, triggering a large explosion.
There is no official confirmation of the strike against the 112th brigade.
See 8.27am post for more details on the 'terror bombing' 112th brigade.
Ukraine's parliament voted to extend martial law until August 6, a senior lawmaker said.
An overwhelming majority of 357 deputies supported the extension, which allows the country to continue mobilising troops and suspends the election cycle. One lawmaker voted against the bill.
Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed one person and wounded three on Wednesday in an apparent so-called double-tap strike.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the region, said that Russian attacks had continued as rescue workers arrived on the scene.
'This is a deliberate tactic by Russia to prevent the rescue of the victims and to harm medics, rescuers, and police officers,' Mr Prokudin said.
Moscow's forces have been repeatedly accused of using the brutal and illegal tactic throughout the three-year war in what Kyiv says is an attempt to kill or maim trained professionals and break the morale of Ukrainians.
Kherson was captured by Russian forces when they invaded in early 2022. It was liberated months later, but the city remains under constant Russian bombardment.
Should Russia ever face a war crimes court over its actions in Ukraine, the men of the 112th missile brigade may have some explaining to do.
Officially, their job is to support Russian troops in north-east Ukraine, using huge, truck-launched rockets to take out military targets far behind enemy lines.
Unofficially, they are also accused of 'terror bombing', such as this weekend's Palm Sunday attack on the city of Sumy, which killed 34 people.
Just before 10.30am, an Iskander ballistic missile – a 21-foot projectile big enough to carry a nuclear warhead – slammed into Sumy's down town area, packed with worshippers returning from church. Minutes later, in a so-called 'double tap', a second Iskander scattered cluster munitions as rescue workers rushed to help.
But Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's military intelligence chief, has pinned the blame on the 112th missile brigade – a unit Kyiv says specifically targets civilians.
Kyiv also blames the 448th brigade for the Sumy attack and on Tuesday targeted its base in a retaliatory strike.
Russia has lost 936,210 troops in Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion, Ukraine's general staff said on Wednesday.
The number includes 1,050 casualties Moscow's forces suffered just over the past day.
Russian attacks across Ukrainian regions killed at least one civilian and injured at least 27 over the past day, regional authorities reported on Wednesday.
In the Sumy Oblast, which is facing intensified attacks by Russia, a man was killed during a drone strike and another was injured.
In Donetsk Oblast, five people were injured in Russian attacks over the past day, while another five were injured in Kharkiv, including a paramedic wounded near Kupiansk when his ambulance was damaged in a Russian airstrike.
Russian attacks injured 11 people over the past day in Kherson region, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of targeting civilians throughout the three-year war.
Russia's foreign minister has reiterated Vladimir Putin's rejection of the US-proposed 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.
Sergey Lavrov, repeating the concerns of the Russian president, questioned whether Ukraine would be allowed to mobilise forces, train newly mobilised soldiers, receive military aid from its allies and what the control measures of a truce would be.
Mr Lavrov attempted to blame Ukraine for the lack of a deal, saying it 'loves to lie', despite Kyiv agreeing to the immediate ceasefire proposal last month.
Russia's ministry of defence has accused Ukraine of violating the partial ceasefire on energy infrastructure almost every day since March 29, while offering no evidence of such violations.
'The Kremlin appears to be using these unsubstantiated claims to also refuse Trump's ceasefire proposal,' the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. said.
A Russian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa overnight injured three people, sparked fires and damaged homes.
'The enemy has again attacked Odesa with a massive drone attack,' Oleh Kiper, governor of the region said on Telegram, although the full scale of the attack was not clear.
Ukraine's emergency service said three people were injured and several fires broke out in the city as a result of the attack.
We're bringing you all the latest from the war in Ukraine and ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
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