Civilians lost their lives, covered in sheets of foil, among burnt-out cars and obliterated buildings.
This was the grim reality captured by news crews on Sunday in Sumy, a city located in northeastern Ukraine.
Russia launched two ballistic missiles at the city’s central district, resulting in the deaths of 35 civilians, including two children.
Additionally, over 115 individuals were injured.
In both instances, Russia’s defense ministry claimed it targeted meetings of Ukrainian military officials – assertions that remain unverified independently.
Russia targeted Sumy’s central district with two ballistic missiles, claiming the lives of 35 civilians.
Moreover, Russia has failed to provide evidence bolstering its claims.
Just two days prior to the attack on Sumy, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg to discuss potential steps towards ending the war.
However, the sequence of these events raises suspicions.
Mr. Witkoff engaged with Mr. Putin about peace on Friday, only for devastation to occur on the streets of Sumy due to Russian bombardment on Palm Sunday.
This leads to a pressing question: Is Russia mocking US efforts for peace in Ukraine?
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski seems to hold that view.
Yesterday, he expressed to reporters in Luxembourg that he hopes US President Donald Trump recognizes that Russia’s leader is “mocking their goodwill”.
It is evident that Russian forces are launching large Iskander ballistic missiles, each weighing over 450kg, into the heart of Ukrainian urban areas.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin have communicated through two official phone calls since February, yet little tangible progress has been observed towards halting the conflict.
Utilizing such missiles in densely populated regions inherently carries a significant risk of inflicting civilian casualties on ordinary people, just as residents of Sumy were experiencing on Sunday morning.
These lethal strikes imply that Russia feels empowered to persist with its three-year campaign rather than being compelled by the US to cease hostilities.
While senior US officials negotiated an initial 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine last month to cease attacks on energy infrastructure, the agreement failed to take off, with both parties accusing each other of violating the US-mediated accord.
This was followed, two weeks later, by a 30-day maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
However, Russia quickly returned with additional demands to lift specific sanctions, leaving the energy aspect of the ceasefire agreement unresolved.
Bringing Ukraine to the table was relatively straightforward, despite Mr. Trump claiming early last month that Ukraine posed a more significant challenge than Russia in negotiations.
Two weeks ago, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov stated that the current US ceasefire proposal was unacceptable as, according to Russia, it fails to address the “root causes of the conflict”.
The Kremlin defines “root causes” as NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe during the late 1990s.
Mr. Ryabkov’s remarks indicate that Russia had significant reservations about the US ceasefire proposal from the outset.
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Interestingly, on March 11, Ukraine accepted an initial US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire across all fronts, including land, sea, and air.
Contrarily, Russia rejected the same proposal, opting instead for a limited ceasefire, which it subsequently violated.
The Kremlin’s strategy appears to be one of waging war while advancing its maximalist demands as a condition for ending hostilities.
Yesterday, Mr. Trump described the attack on Sumy as “horrible” and “a mistake”.
However, Russia makes too many of these ‘mistakes’, casting doubt on its genuine willingness to engage in a credible peace process.
European leaders have vehemently condemned the attack on Sumy and are planning a fresh round of sanctions against Russia.
The US may need to consider a similar course of action to compel a change in Russian tactics.
