Russia’s March 24 missile strike on Ukraine’s Sumy injures 101, including children

The Sumy City Council reported the information.

As of 10 a.m. on March 25, the number of injured has risen to 99, including 76 adults and 23 children.

Currently, efforts are underway in the city to restore electricity, heating, water, and gas supply.

"Three locations have been set up directly at the sites of the incidents, where rescuers, police, utility workers, and volunteers from public organizations are working. At these sites, owners of damaged homes are being provided with essential construction materials for emergency repairs, OSB boards are being cut, and assistance is being given to cover broken windows," the statement says.

Later, the Regional Military Administration reported that the number of injured had risen to 101 people. 14 adults and 16 children are currently hospitalized. One adult and one child are in stable but serious condition.

What is known about the Russian strike on March 24

According to the head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, Volodymyr Artyukh, Russian troops struck the central part of the city, with a school being among the affected buildings. At the time of the strike, children were in a shelter.  

"Russia launched a missile strike on the city center. Several high-rise buildings and a school were damaged. The children were in a shelter, and now they are being evacuated. Everyone is alive and well. Emergency services are working to mitigate the aftermath and extinguish the fires. We are conducting a sweep of the high-rise buildings to provide assistance to the affected people," he said.

According to Sumy's acting mayor, Artem Kobzar, the Russian attack also hit residential areas and critical infrastructure, including children's hospitals.

"We are aware of the wounded: 24 adults and 4 children. All emergency services are responding at the scene," he wrote.

However, at 4:45 p.m., the press service of the Sumy City Council informed that the number of casualties had increased to 74. Among them are 13 children.

The city council added that eight buildings had no gas supply, 18 had no hot water or heating, and six had no cold water.

Later, the Sumy City Council reported that the number of people injured in the Russian attack on a residential area of Sumy had increased to 88, including 17 children.

“Currently, there are 88 people, according to the latest information. Unfortunately, there are 17 children among them who have been injured in varying degrees of severity. The situation is very deplorable, we don't know why, how, what and why, but there are a lot of damaged residential buildings, two schools nearby, two kindergartens. In one very large school, all the windows and doors were blown out. I talked to the school principal, she is crying, it's a blessing that there are people alive, that's all I can say. The fire continues, fires in several buildings continue, fires in five-story buildings in apartments continue, a fire in a private house continues. The rescuers are working, and at the moment the firefighting is not yet complete. Sumy has never seen anything of this scale before,” Vyacheslav Ryabchenko, a deputy of the Sumy District Council and a volunteer, told Espreso.

Reaction from Kyiv

Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha, commenting on Russia’s strike on Sumy, stated that any diplomacy must be backed by military force, sanctions, and pressure.

“A few hours ago, as a result of yet another horrific Russian bombardment of the city center of Sumy, dozens of civilians were injured, including many children. Instead of making empty statements about peace, Russia must stop bombing our cities and end its war against the civilian population,” the Foreign Minister wrote on the social network X.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to the Russian strike on Sumy. According to him, rescue operations in the city are still ongoing.

“There are many injured — as of now, nearly 90 people have been reported injured, including 17 children. The epicenter of the strike was a school and residential buildings. Fortunately, the children in the school were in the shelter,” the President added.

• Russia has intensified the shelling along the entire section of the Sumy region's state border with Russia. However, the Defense Forces of Ukraine are not allowing Russian troops to break through the border.