A Russian airstrike struck a residential area in Sumy, northern Ukraine, on Friday evening, partially destroying a nine-story building. According to Ukrainian authorities, the attack resulted in the deaths of two individuals and injured eight others.
The guided bomb impacted between the third and fourth floors, causing fires and trapping residents under debris, as reported by Kyiv Post.
Additionally, the explosion damaged at least four other apartment buildings in the Kovpakivskyi district of Sumy.
The mayor, Artem Kobzar, confirmed that the deceased victims were employees of the Executive Committee of the City Council, consisting of a 52-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman.
Rescue teams managed to save four other people, including a 7-year-old boy, from the rubble. The total number of injured individuals stands at eight, which includes two children.
Images depicting the damage caused by the Russian attack have been shared by the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, with a warning that they may be emotionally distressing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as “absolutely inhuman,” stating, “It was a direct strike with an air bomb between the third and fourth floors. Four people have already been rescued from the debris, including a child.”
Rescue operations continue at the site, with teams working diligently to clear the debris, and officials have warned that more people may still be trapped beneath it.
“It is possible that there are still people under the rubble. Rescuers are doing everything possible to bring them out and extinguish the fires,” the Ukrainian president mentioned in a post on X.
This strike was part of a broader attack on the border region of Sumy, where Russian aircraft dropped six or seven guided bombs, including near the villages of Stepanivka and Bezdryk, according to the head of the local Military Administration, Serhii Krivosheyenko.
