Russia breaks silence on Ukraine’s Sumy ballistic missile strike

Russia said Monday that it hit a meeting of Ukrainian army commanders in two ballistic missile strikes on Sumy, and accused Ukraine of using civilians as a "human shield" after Kyiv said the Sunday attack killed at least 34 people.

Russia's defence ministry said it launched two Iskander missiles "at the place of a meeting of command staff", adding: "the Kyiv regime continues to use the Ukrainian population as a human shield, placing military facilities and holding events with the participation of soldiers in the centre of a densely populated city."

Two ballistic missiles hit the centre of the northeastern city of Sumy, close to the Russian border, on Sunday morning, killing at least 34 people and wounding more than 100 others, Ukrainian authorities said.

The 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 more than three-year war.

"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," US President Trump told reporters on board Air Force One while headed back to Washington on Sunday evening.

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 was referring to.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the attack "horrifying" and a "tragic reminder of why President Trump and his administration are putting so much time and effort into trying to end this war and achieve durable peace".

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday urged Trump to visit his country to better understand the devastation wrought by Russia's invasion.