The 2 missiles struck a busy avenue within the metropolis centre, damaging residential buildings, an academic facility and civilian automobiles, as folks had been out celebrating Palm Sunday, a significant non secular vacation in Ukraine.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres was deeply alarmed and shocked to study of the assault his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated in a statement.
Devastating sample of assaults
“The assault, on Palm Sunday and in the beginning of Holy Week, continues a devastating sample of comparable assaults on Ukrainian cities and cities in latest weeks, leading to civilian casualties and large-scale destruction,” he stated.
The Secretary-Common underlined that assaults towards civilians and civilian objects are prohibited underneath worldwide humanitarian regulation and should finish instantly.
Mr. Guterres renewed his name for a sturdy ceasefire in Ukraine.
He additionally reiterated the UN’s assist to significant efforts in the direction of a simply, lasting and complete peace that absolutely upholds the nation’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, in keeping with the UN Charter, worldwide regulation, and related UN resolutions.
Senior assist official ‘totally appalled’
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, was “totally appalled” by the Russian missile strike on the guts of Sumy metropolis, which is situated in northeastern Ukraine.
“Palm Sunday is supposed to be a day of peace and reflection. As a substitute, folks in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine have been subjected to violence, terror, and loss,” he said.
The missile hit a busy avenue within the metropolis centre, damaging residential buildings, an academic facility, and civilian automobiles — together with a public bus.
“On behalf of the humanitarian neighborhood and the United Nations nation workforce, I condemn this assault within the strongest potential phrases and specific my deeply felt condolences with the households whose lives have been torn aside,” stated Mr. Schmale.
He recalled that worldwide humanitarian regulation strictly prohibits assaults towards civilians and civilian infrastructure, stressing that “these guidelines exist to guard human life and dignity — and so they have to be revered at all occasions.”
The top of the UN Kids’s Fund (UNICEF) workplace in Kharkiv, which additionally helps residents of the Sumy area, was a part of a mission that visited the town within the wake of the devastating assault.
Jinan Ramadan shared highly effective accounts of the struggling she witnessed and urged the worldwide neighborhood to proceed to assist Ukraine. Our interview under has extra particulars.
