Aftermath of Russia's April 13 missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Antifake
On April 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its recent missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy — which took 35 lives, including two children, on Palm Sunday — was aimed at a gathering of Ukrainian military commanders:
“Yesterday, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, despite active electronic warfare and foreign-made air defense systems deployed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, carried out a strike with two Iskander-M operational-tactical missiles on a location where a command meeting of the ‘Siversk’ operational-tactical group was taking place in the city of Sumy.
As a result of the strike, over 60 Ukrainian servicemen were eliminated. The Kyiv regime continues to use the Ukrainian population as human shields, placing military facilities and conducting events involving soldiers in the centers of densely populated cities.”
Russia’s main state-owned broadcaster Channel One (Perviy Kanal) added further purported detail in its midday news broadcast:
“The ‘Congress Center’ in Sumy hosted a gathering of militants responsible for crimes in the Kursk region. Names and ranks have been identified. Among the eliminated terrorists were the commander of an artillery brigade and other leaders of the so-called ‘Siversk’ group.
The fact that the militants had gathered at the Congress Center for an awards ceremony was confirmed in the Verkhovna Rada. Meanwhile, the mayor of Konotop lashed out at the head of the Sumy regional military administration and the local SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] chief, threatening to expose the full truth if they did not resign.”
Artiukh was dismissed from his post on April 15.
Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin did, in fact, publicly accuse Volodymyr Artiukh, then-head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, of organizing a gathering of troops from the 117th Brigade for an awards ceremony in the center of Sumy on April 13.
This was also echoed on Facebook by Verkhovna Rada MP Mariana Bezuhla, known for her sharp criticism of both the Ukrainian authorities and the country's military leadership:
Artiukh was dismissed from his post on April 15.
“Russia shelled the center of Sumy on Palm Sunday. A message to [Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief] Syrskyi and separately to the head of territorial defense: stop gathering troops for awards ceremonies, especially in civilian cities. The Russians again had information about the gathering. And formations are still being held at training grounds…
Stop flaunting, stop these ceremonies and formations. Curse your Soviet mindset — and curse you with it!
SBU: yet another information leak.
No one has been held accountable for previous incidents. After the tragedy with the 128th Brigade’s awards ceremony, no one was even officially suspected — because brigade commander Lysyuk is the godfather of General Zubanych…
It’s the fourth year of full-scale war.
More than 20 people have already been killed. My condolences to the families and loved ones…
Mr. President, Volodymyr Zelensky — is this okay with you? Will you continue to stay silent and protect the old guard? They’re not learning from this! They’re not learning, Mr. President!”
However, Ukrainian sources have reported only one military fatality in the strike, contradicting Russia’s claim of over 60. The individual confirmed killed was Yuriy Yula, commander of the 27th Rocket Artillery Brigade — who, notably, had no connection to the 117th Brigade mentioned by Semenikhin.
The earlier tragic incident referenced by Bezuhla — a November 2024 missile strike that killed members of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, who really had gathered for a ceremony — was widely reported in the Ukrainian press. But in the current case, even Mayor Semenikhin, who initially blamed the Sumy administration, has since stated that there were no casualties among the 117th Brigade, as the gathering took place in a shelter. While the accuracy of this claim remains unclear, the Russian Defense Ministry’s report of eliminating more than 60 Ukrainian troops appears highly questionable.
If such a gathering did take place — and if Russian forces learned of its location through an intelligence leak — they would also have known that precautionary measures were likely in place, meaning they would have known that the probability of hitting actual military personnel via a cluster munition strike on a civilian area was low. Nevertheless, they proceeded to strike the center of a populated city, making the deaths of dozens of civilians inevitable.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s statement, in this context, can only be viewed as an unconvincing and transparent attempt to justify what amounts to a war crime.
Artiukh was dismissed from his post on April 15.