Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Nine people were killed and another 14 were injured in a Russian drone strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy in the early hours of Thursday morning, the Sumy Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday evening.
According to initial reports issued by the State Emergency Service, a Shahed attack drone launched by Russia struck a 10-storey residential building, destroying nine apartments, killing four people and injuring nine more, including one child. However, the deathctoll and the number of those injured continued to climb throughout the day.
Rescuers managed to save people from under the rubble of the destroyed upper floors, as well as to evacuate 118 residents from the building, the State Emergency Service said.
The city’s acting Mayor Artem Kobzar announced that Thursday and Friday would be days of mourning in Sumy for those killed in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike a “heinous Russian crime” and the deaths a “horrific tragedy” in a post on X on Thursday morning, adding that it was “crucial that the world does not pause in putting pressure on Russia for this terror. I am grateful to all the leaders who speak out in support of Ukraine and Ukrainians”.
The Sumy region borders Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, where the Russian military is currently engaged in attempts to recapture territory held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who established a foothold in the area after a surprise cross-border incursion in August aimed at creating a “buffer zone” to prevent the Russian shelling of Sumy.
Ukraine’s Air Force said in its morning briefing on Thursday that Russia had launched 81 drones at 10 regions of the country overnight, with 37 downed by Ukrainian air defences and a further 39 failing to reach their target.
