Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians in a rocket attack on the northeastern city of Sumy that killed at least three people and wounded 20 others.
"The Russians launched a savage strike on Sumy — directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery. It was a fully deliberate attack on civilians," Zelensky said in a social media post, sharing a video of destroyed cars and a body lying on the road.
The attack came as Russian forces intensified strikes on the Sumy region, where President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops to establish a "buffer zone" inside Ukrainian territory.
Local officials said Russian forces fired five multiple-launch rockets at Sumy around 9 a.m. local time.
Zelensky said the strike, which occurred a day after Ukraine and Russia held a second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul, "says everything one needs to know about Russia's so-called 'desire' to end this war." He called on the U.S. and Europe to take "decisive actions" to pressure Moscow into a ceasefire.
"Every day, Russia gives new reasons for tougher sanctions and stronger support for our defense," he said.
Sumy, located around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Russian border, was a key logistics hub for Ukraine's cross-border offensive into the Kursk region last year. Attacks on the city have escalated since Moscow claimed full control over Kursk in April.
A Russian ballistic missile strike on central Sumy in April killed more than 30 people, making it one of the deadliest single attacks of the war.
Zelensky said last week that Moscow was amassing 50,000 troops for an offensive on the region.
Separately, a Russian drone attack on Kharkiv killed one person, the regional prosecutor’s office said. The cities of Odesa and Chernihiv were also targeted in overnight strikes.
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