“This is not just another shelling—this is a cynical war crime,” Ukraine’s National Police said on Telegram, posting photographs of a dark-blue van with its roof torn off and windows blown out. Ihor Tkachenko, head of the Sumy regional military administration, said rescue crews were still at the site.
Russia’s defense ministry said its forces had struck a staging area for Ukrainian military equipment in the same region using unmanned aerial vehicles, the state-run TASS news agency reported.
Both sides deny targeting civilians, though thousands—most of them Ukrainians—have died since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Talks in Turkey yield no truce
The attack came less than 24 hours after Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Istanbul in a bid, brokered by Turkey and encouraged by the United States, to secure a 30-day ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners.
The meeting—the first direct dialogue since March 2022—ended after two hours with no breakthrough; Kyiv accused Moscow of presenting “ultimatums detached from reality” while the Kremlin said Ukraine’s demands were unacceptable.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for an unconditional ceasefire to enable humanitarian relief and lay the groundwork for wider peace talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is ready to discuss a truce but insists any pause must address Russia’s security concerns and the status of territories it has seized.
Intensified strikes amid stalled diplomacy
Russian forces have in recent weeks stepped up aerial and artillery assaults across Ukraine’s north-eastern border regions.
Local authorities say Sumy and neighboring Kharkiv have been hit almost daily by glide bombs, missiles and drones launched from Russian territory.
Kyiv argues the strikes are designed to pressure Ukraine into accepting unfavorable peace terms.
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Source: Reuters