Donald Trump has claimed that Russia ‘made a mistake’ with its devastating ballistic missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which left dozens dead and more than 100 people injured.
‘I think it was terrible. And I was told they made a mistake. But I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the whole war is a horrible thing,’ Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while headed back to Washington.
Asked to clarify what he meant by a ‘mistake,’ Trump said that ‘they made a mistake… you’re gonna ask them’ – without specifying who or what he meant.
Russia staged a barbaric double Iskander-M missile strike on Ukraine on Sunday hitting a trolley bus, killing at least 34 people, including two children, and wounding 117, including 15 children.
The dead and wounded – covered in blood – lay in the streets of the city centre after two massive explosions rocked the city, with video showing fireballs erupting in busy civilian areas.
President Trump’s National Security Council (NSC) had earlier Sunday called the Russian strike ‘a clear and stark reminder’ of why his efforts to ‘try and end this terrible war comes at a crucial time.’
Neither Trump nor the White House named Moscow as the perpetrator of the attack, though Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier offered condolences to the ‘victims of today’s horrifying Russian missile attack on Sumy.’
‘Only completely deranged scum can do something like this,’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated last night.
Speaking in a US television interview broadcast yesterday, he urged President Trump to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion.
Pictures show destroyed buildings and burned out civilian cars at the site of a Russian ballistic missile strike on the city centre, killing many civilians on April 13, 2025 in Sumy, Ukraine
A man cries as he leans on the bus that was hit by a Russian missile on Sumy, Ukraine
Bodies of people killed in a Russian ballistic missile strike lie covered with emergency blankets at the strike site on April 13, 2025 in Sumy, Ukraine
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on April 13, 2025, shows a Ukrainian rescuer working at the site of a missile attack in Sumy
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, during the flight from Palm Beach to Joint Base Andrews, as he returns to the White House
‘Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead,’ he said according to a transcript of an interview to be broadcast on CBS.
The channel aired an interview conducted by reporter Scott Pelley with Zelensky on the site of a Russian attack where nine children were killed earlier this month.
Zelensky said he has ‘100 percent’ hatred for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine, and invited Trump to his visit his country to see the damage of the war.
Following its broadcast, Trump hit back against CBS on Truth Social, saying the war in Ukraine ‘would never have happened if the 2020 Election had not been RIGGED, in other words, if I were President.’
The Sumy strike came two days after US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin and push Trump’s efforts to end the war.
Trump earlier said the visit by his envoy Steve Witkoff to see Putin in Moscow showed that the peace efforts ‘might be going OK – and you’re going to be finding out pretty soon.’
Speaking in his evening address on Sunday night, Zelensky stressed that the attack occurred on Palm Sunday, a major Christian feast.
Photos too graphic for MailOnline to publish showed the trolley bus burning with victims inside.
At least one child was a victim of the horrific new strike on a city marking the Sunday before Easter.
At least one car was ablaze with people trapped inside.
The Congress Centre in Sumy – part of the city’s university – was hit in one of the most shocking strikes of the three-year war.
The dead were seen covered in silver sheets at the scene of the strike where rescuers worked through the rubble of a building near a destroyed trolleybus.
Zelensky said eight of the 68 injured in hospitals were in serious condition.
‘In addition to the university, the strike damaged five apartment buildings, cafes, shops, and the district court. In total, the Russian attack damaged 20 buildings,’ said Zelensky.
Russia staged a barbaric new double Iskander-M missile strike on Ukraine today hitting a trolley bus, killing at least 21 people and leaving dozens more injured
At least one child was a victim of the horrific new strike on a city marking the Sunday before Easter
The mayor of Sumy said ‘more than 20 deaths’ were already clear, as the emergency services continued to work
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was ‘deeply alarmed and shocked’ by the strike, which highlighted a ‘devastating pattern of similar assaults on Ukrainian cities and towns in recent weeks,’ his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said: ‘The Russians hit the city of Sumy with missiles, killing civilians.’
The office of the Sumy mayor said there were ‘many dead’.
Acting mayor Artem Kobzar said: ‘On this bright day of Palm Sunday, our community suffered a terrible tragedy.
‘The enemy launched a missile strike on civilians. Unfortunately, more than 20 deaths are already known…’
Zelensky said: ‘A terrible strike by Russian ballistic missiles on Sumy.
‘Enemy missiles hit an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street…
‘And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem.
The office of the Sumy mayor said there were ‘many dead’
Zelensky pleaded for a ‘tough reaction from the world’
‘According to preliminary data, we are talking about dozens of dead and wounded civilians. Only a scoundrel can act like this.
‘Taking the lives of ordinary people. My condolences to the relatives and friends. A rescue operation is underway now. All necessary services are working.’
Zelensky pleaded for a ‘tough reaction from the world’.
He said: ‘The United States, Europe, everyone in the world who wants an end to this war and murders.
‘Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible.
‘Talks have never stopped ballistic missiles and air bombs. We need the kind of attitude towards Russia that a terrorist deserves. Thank you to everyone who is with Ukraine and helps us protect life.’
The head of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Telegram that Russia had used two Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles on Sumy.
One witness told AFP she heard two explosions.
‘A lot of people were very badly injured. A lot of corpses,’ she said, struggling to speak.
Sumy declared three days of mourning.
It was the second Russian attack this month to cause a large civilian death toll. An attack on Zelensky’s home city of Kryvi Rig killed at least 18 people, including nine children.
Zelensky called on the United States and Europe to give a ‘strong response’ to Russia, adding: ‘Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs.’
Trump has previously voiced anger at Moscow for ‘bombing like crazy’ in Ukraine.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said the strike showed Russia’s ‘blatant disregard for human lives, international law and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump’.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was ‘appalled’ by the attack, which Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni described as a ‘cowardly’ act by Russia.
Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz described it as ‘a serious war crime, deliberate and intended’.
Staging an attack on Palm Sunday outraged several leaders.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said: ‘Sumy. Day off. A major religious holiday for Ukrainians is Palm Sunday.’
The Palm Sunday massacre in a region close to the border between the countries left people screaming in terror with scenes from Armageddon
It was ‘a barbaric attack, made even more vile as people gathered peacefully to celebrate Palm Sunday,’ European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on X.
‘The Russian version of a ceasefire. Bloody Palm Sunday,’ said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Moscow has refused a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine.
Authorities in Sumy published footage of bodies in the street and people running for safety, with cars on fire and wounded civilians on the ground.
Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukraine in recent weeks, stepping up its all-out invasion that has gone on for more than three years.
Sumy has been under increasing pressure since Moscow pushed back many of Ukraine’s troops from its Kursk region inside Russia, across the border.
Kyiv has warned for weeks that Moscow could mount an offensive on the city.
Russia launched its invasion partially through the Sumy region and briefly occupied parts of it before being pushed back by Ukrainian forces.
On Sunday, Russia said it captured another village in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
