Photo: Ihor Klymenko / Telegram

At least 21 people have been killed and 83 injured in a Russian ballistic missile strike on the city of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine on Sunday morning, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote.

Photo: Artem Kobzar / Telegram

The acting mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, said the attack, which took place around 10:15am local time, had coincided with Palm Sunday, a Christian celebration that takes place a week before Easter, and posted a picture of a child’s scooter amid the rubble.

Calling the attack “a brutal war crime”, Klymenko accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians on a major church holiday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video showing dead people lying on the ground in the aftermath of the strike, adding: “Only bastards can do this.” Zelensky called for “a strong response” from the US, Europe, and “everyone in the world who wants to stop this war and killing today”, adding that Russia was deliberately dragging out the war.

“Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible,” Zelensky wrote. “Talking has never stopped ballistic missiles and bombs. We need to treat Russia like a terrorist deserves to be treated.”

The strike comes amid reports that a fresh Russian offensive in Ukraine’s Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions is already underway, as was confirmed by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi earlier this week.

At least 101 people, including 23 children, were injured in a strike on Sumy in late March. Another ballistic missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed 20 people, including nine children, last Saturday.