By LORNE COOK
BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia on Monday claimed its lethal missile assault on Ukraine’s Sumy that killed and wounded scores together with kids had focused a gathering of Ukrainian troops, whereas European leaders condemned the assault as a warfare crime.
Ukrainian officers have stated two ballistic missiles on Palm Sunday morning hit the center of Sumy, a metropolis about 30 kilometers (lower than 20 miles) from Ukraine’s border with Russia, killing a minimum of 34, together with two kids, and wounding 119. It was the second large-scale assault to say civilian lives in Ukraine in simply over every week.
Requested in regards to the assault, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated Russia’s army solely strikes army targets. Russia’s Protection Ministry stated the strike focused a gathering of senior army officers and accused Kyiv of utilizing civilians as shields by holding army conferences within the metropolis’s heart.
The ministry claimed to kill over 60 troops. Russia gave no proof to again its claims.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has known as for a world response to the assault, saying the primary strike hit college buildings and the second exploded above road degree. “Solely actual strain on Russia can cease this. We want tangible sanctions in opposition to these sectors that finance the Russian killing machine,” he wrote Monday on social media.
Polish International Minister Radek Sikorski, whose nation holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, known as the assaults “Russia’s mocking reply” to Kyiv’s settlement to a ceasefire proposed by the U.S. over a month in the past.
“I hope that President Trump, the U.S. administration, see that the chief of Russia is mocking their goodwill, and I hope the suitable choices are taken,” Sikorski informed reporters in Luxembourg, the place EU overseas ministers met.
Finnish International Minister Elina Valtonen famous that the assault on Sumy got here shortly after President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It demonstrates that “Russia reveals full disregard for the peace course of, but additionally that Russia has zero regard for human life,” Valtonen stated.
Lithuania’s overseas minister, Kestutis Budrys, echoed Ukraine’s assertion that the Russian strike used cluster munitions to focus on civilians, calling it “a warfare crime by definition.” The Related Press has been unable to confirm that declare.
French International Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated the assault reveals that Putin has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire, and known as for the European Union to “take the hardest sanctions in opposition to Russia to suffocate its economic system and stop it from fueling its warfare effort.”
The EU has imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia and is engaged on a seventeenth, however the measures are getting tougher to agree on as a result of in addition they affect European economies.
Germany’s chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, described the Sumy assault as “a severe warfare crime” throughout an look on ARD tv.
Merz made clear he stands by his previous calls to ship Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, one thing that outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. He stated the Ukrainian army wants to have the ability to “get forward of the scenario” and that any supply of long-range missiles should be executed in session with European companions.
Requested about Merz’s assertion, the Kremlin spokesman stated such a transfer would “inevitably lead solely to additional escalation of the scenario round Ukraine,” telling reporters that “regrettably, European capitals aren’t inclined to seek for methods to launch peace talks and are inclined as an alternative to maintain upsetting the continuation of the warfare.”
Russian forces this month have dropped 2,800 air bombs on Ukraine and fired greater than 1,400 strike drones and almost 60 missiles of varied sorts.
The assault on Sumy adopted a April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 individuals, together with 9 kids.
Trump has beforehand described the strike on Sumy as a “mistake.” On Monday, he stated the error was permitting the warfare to begin within the first place, criticizing former President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy and Putin.
“Biden might’ve stopped it and Zelenskyy might’ve stopped it and Putin ought to’ve by no means began it,” Trump stated within the Oval Workplace. “Everyone’s in charge.”
Late Sunday, Russian exploding drones attacked Odesa, injuring eight individuals. Regional head Oleh Kiper stated a medical facility was among the many buildings broken.
Russia fired a complete of 62 Shahed drones over Ukraine late Sunday and early Monday, Ukraine’s air power stated, including that 40 had been destroyed and 11 others jammed.
Two Chinese language nationals, who had been captured by Ukrainian forces whereas combating on the Russian aspect, stated at a information convention in Kyiv on Monday that that they had joined the warfare voluntarily after seeing recruitment bulletins on TikTok. They stated they weren’t inspired or supported by Chinese language authorities, who had warned them in regards to the hazard of collaborating within the battle.
One of many males, talking by way of an interpreter, stated he didn’t intend to participate straight in fight however was despatched to the entrance traces anyway. One other stated that Russian recruiters abused his belief and put him in what he described as a “lure.”
They stated they got orders by way of gestures and hand alerts, and Russian personnel continually accompanied them, leaving no likelihood for escape. Each stated they hope to be included in a future prisoner change and return to their households.
It was not possible for the AP to corroborate their statements or independently confirm beneath what circumstances the 2 males spoke.
When he first introduced the seize of the Chinese language nationals final week, Zelensky stated there have been greater than 150 different Chinese language combating for Russia. Beijing responded that it at all times asks its residents to keep away from collaborating in any army operations.
Whereas China has offered sturdy diplomatic assist for Russia because it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it’s not believed to have knowingly offered Russia with troops, weapons or army experience.
U.S. officers have accused Iran of offering Russia with drones, whereas American and South Korean officers say North Korea has despatched hundreds of troops to assist Russia on the battlefield.
Related Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sam McNeil in Barcelona, Spain, Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.
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