UN Secretary-General calls for ceasefire in Ukraine war over attack on Sumy

António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, called on Russia and Ukraine to agree to a long-term ceasefire. He published a statement in the X service.

He reiterated the United Nations’ support for “meaningful efforts to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace that fully respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

He was deeply concerned about the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy: ‘attacks on civilians are prohibited under international law and must cease immediately’.

Bombardment on Sumy on 13 April

On 13 April, Palm Sunday, Russian troops launched two missile strikes on the centre of Sumy. The Russian invaders attacked civilian infrastructure and transport, where a large number of people were staying. The attack killed more than 30 people and injured more than a hundred others.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message that the Russians attacked Sumy with two missiles. The first missile hit a building, one of the university’s structures, and the second exploded right above the street.

‘117 people were injured, including children and, in particular, a girl born in 2025,’ the politician said.

Zelenskyy added that the strike hit right in the centre of the city.

It was a repeated ballistic missile strike, as the head of the Sumy City Military Administration, Serhiy Kryvosheenko, explained on his Telegram channel, that caused the loss of life with a large number of dead and wounded.

The second ballistic missile fired by the Russians at Sumy was probably loaded with fragmentation elements and exploded in midair to inflict maximum damage on people on the streets of the city. According to preliminary findings, most of the civilians were killed by these munitions.

The explosion occurred approximately 200 metres from the site of the first hit, in an area with residential buildings, educational institutions and shops.

The Russian attack on the centre of Sumy was condemned by politicians from various states and institutions. The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and the EU’s chief of diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, both sharply criticised Russia’s actions, while French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that decisive measures were needed to force Russia to cease fire. He drew attention to the efforts of US President Donald Trump, who is seeking a speedy end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Earlier, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, Defence Minister Theo Francken and Foreign Minister Maxime Prév arrived in Kyiv to discuss support for Ukraine.