Massive rocket attack on Sumy: 34 dead and international outrage!

Massive rocket attack on Sumy: 34 dead and international outrage!

Sumy, Ukraine - on April 13, 2025, Palm Sunday, the Ukrainian city of Sumy was hit by two ballistic rockets of the Russian army. The attack hit the city center, while many people were outside, and demanded at least 34 deaths and 117 injuries, including 15 children. The Situation is particularly tragic because it happened in the middle of the celebrations for Palm Sunday, which underlines the susceptibility of the civilian population. The city has been under intensive Russian shelling for weeks after Ukrainian troops were pushed back from the Course area. These developments were reported by Kleine Zeitung

In response to the attack, the Ukrainian government has set up a crisis staff to cope with the consequences. President Wolodymyr Selenskyj expressed outraged words about the incident and described the aggressors as "dirty scum". He asked the international community to react vigorously. In the meantime, US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio reinforced the international conviction of the attack and expressed his condolences to the victims.

international reactions and humanitarian international law

The attack on Sumy has triggered a wave of international reactions. UN Secretary General António Guterres showed "deeply worried" about the repeated attacks on Ukrainian cities and called for an immediate compliance with the principles of humanitarian international law that prohibits attacks on civilians. In this context, the designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the incident as a "severe war crime". France’s President Emmanuel Macron joined the criticism of Russia's disregard for international law and called for energetic measures. According to Tagesschau , EU President António Costa also spoke of a "criminal attack".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (IKRK) emphasizes the important role of humanitarian international law in conflicts. In a speech, Mirjana Spoljaric, President of the IKRK, warned of the devastating effects of such attacks on civilians and called for compliance with these internationally recognized rules. She explained that the universal relevance of humanitarian international law was undisputed and appealed to the states to take their responsibility for the protection of the civilian population seriously and to alleviate the suffering in conflict areas.

These systematic attacks on civilians in Ukraine, which take place under the pretext of the war against the West, illustrate the urgency of negotiations to terminate the conflict. The United States National Security Council, represented by Brian Hughes, describes the attack on Sumy as a "clear and brutal memory" of the need to find peaceful solutions. Trump commented on the Air Force One during a flight on board and rated the rocket attack as "terrible". It remains to be seen whether the past exchange between the American special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin will lead to de -escalation. Putin, however, rejected a proposal for unconditional ceasefire.

With the warning of the Ukrainian President Selenskyj, who has proposed a visit to the former US President Trump, the hope of an international solidarity response to these difficult attacks on the civilian population is still strongly emphasized.