The Russian army has dealt a crushing blow with six heavy guided aerial bombs (GABs) in the central part of the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, UNN reported.
As of 3:00 a.m. Bulgarian time on July 4, it was reported that four civilians killed, including a five-year-old child and his mother. The number of injured reached at least 27 people, including seven minors. A 13-year-old teenager was hospitalized in critical condition.
The epicenter of the tragedy
The blast hit a busy street in the heart of the city, affecting a densely populated residential area. According to the head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, Oleg Grigorov, the epicenter of the explosions was a multi-storey residential building, a working shop, civilian cars and pedestrians.
Rescue teams from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine continue to clear debris overnight. Doctors managed to resuscitate a man who had fallen into cardiac arrest, but another seriously injured man later died in hospital, bringing the death toll to four.
The situation in the skies over Ukraine
The first hours of July 4th are marked by high air danger for a number of Ukrainian regions:
- Sumy Oblast: In addition to the KAB attack in the regional center, earlier in the day Russian strikes claimed the lives of a total of six people in the border areas of the region, which is under constant pressure due to Moscow's attempts to expand the so-called “buffer zone“.
- Southeastern Front: More than 50 air and artillery attacks have been registered in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Three people were killed near the town of Nikopol, located opposite the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. In the city of Zaporizhia itself, late-night Russian strikes killed two people and wounded 21 civilians.
- Russia's Tactics: The use of cruise missiles (CBMs) remains one of the most difficult threats to counter for Ukrainian air defenses. These munitions are launched by Russian fighter jets beyond the range of standard short-range anti-aircraft systems and cause massive destruction to civilian infrastructure.
Context of the Escalation
The new wave of attacks comes just after the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, observed an official day of mourning for the victims of July 2, when Russia carried out the most massive combined missile and drone strike of the year, killing at least 30 people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted footage of the destruction in Sumy and again called on international allies to immediately increase pressure on the Kremlin and accelerate deliveries of Patriot air defense systems.