On Sunday morning, two rockets hit the centre of Sumy, killing 34 people, including two children. Another 117 people were injured, including 15 children. The targets included public transport and residential buildings. Local authorities describe the scene as “a real hell”. The Moscow Times reports. The attack on Sumy has left many in deep shock.
The Kremlin and its propagandists immediately launched an information campaign: host Vladimir Solovyov on Russia 24 said that this was “Kyiv’s traditional attempt to disrupt peace talks”, alluding to the meeting between Donald Trump’s representative and Putin that took place two days before the tragedy in Sumy.
The Moscow theses are familiar:
- Solovyov mentioned Bucha, hinting that it was a “staging of the West”;
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “Russia is only hitting military targets”;
- Russia Today editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan called the attack on Sumy a “provocation” aimed at influencing Trump.
American officials are reacting in the opposite way. Senator Marco Rubio called the strike on Sumy a “heinous crime” and reminded that this is why the Trump administration is trying to achieve a ceasefire. Sumy has become another symbol of cruelty.
In his statement, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Donald Trump to personally come to Ukraine to see the aftermath of the tragedy in Sumy.
“Those who really want peace should look not at the pictures on propaganda TV, but into the eyes of those who lost loved ones during the tragedy in Sumy.”
