Vehicles burn after deadly Russian missile strikes on Sumy in northern Ukraine, April 13, 2025

Sunday’s Coverage: Kremlin — Trump Has “Best Understanding” of Our Invasion

UPDATE 1722 GMT:

The UK has loaned £752 million ($990 million) to Ukraine to buy air defense and artillery.

London has pledged Ukraine £2.26 billion ($2.9 billion) in three equal installments as part of the G7’s $50 billion Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration scheme. The plan is financed by profits from frozen Russian assets.

Ukraine received the first part of the UK loan on March 6. The final part will be paid in 2026.

“The world is changing before our eyes, reshaped by global instability, including Russian aggression in Ukraine,” said UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.

UPDATE 0731 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks with the CBS outlet 60 Minutes about Russia’s ongoing invasion and mass killings, Vladimir Putin, and the attempt by US Vice President J.D. Vance and Donald Trump to humiliate him in the White House on February 28:

Sadly, Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S. How is it possible to witness our losses and our suffering, to understand what the Russians are doing, and to still believe that they are not the aggressors, that they did not start this war? This speaks to the enormous influence of Russia’s information policy on America, on U.S. politics, and U.S. politicians….

I don’t want to engage in the altered reality that is being presented to me. First and foremost, we did not launch an attack. It seems to me that the Vice President is somehow justifying Putin’s actions. I tried to explain, “You can’t look for something in the middle. There is an aggressor and there is a victim. The Russians are the aggressor, and we are the victim.”

UPDATE 0709 GMT:

Germany’s incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he may lift Berlin’s ban on sending Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine.

Merz, who denounced Russia’s mass murder in Sumy in northern Ukraine as “a serious war crime” (see Original Entry), said Kyiv needs help to “get ahead” of Russia’s 37 1/2-month invasion.

“Our European partners are already supplying cruise missiles,” he told State broadcaster ARD on Sunday night. “The British are doing it, the French are doing it, and the Americans are doing it anyway.”

He continued, “This must be jointly agreed. And if it agreed, then Germany should take part.”

The Taurus has a range of 500 km (311 miles), greater than that of the UK’s Storm Shadows or France’s SCALPs which have been delivered to Ukraine.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to provide the Taurus, saying it would carry “a great risk of escalation”.

UPDATE 0634 GMT:

At least five civilians have been injured by a Russian drone strike on Odesa in southern Ukraine late Sunday.

Civilian infrastructure including a major roadway; a car repair shop; several vehicles; and a medical facility were damaged.

In the Kherson region in the south, two women and a man were killed and two other civilians injured by Russian drone and artillery attacks.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In Russia’s latest mass murder, at least 34 civilians have been killed and 119 injured by two missiles striking Sumy in northern Ukraine on Sunday morning.

Among the dead are two children and orchestra musician Olena Kohut. At least 15 children are wounded.

Many of the victims were heading to church for Palm Sunday services when the missiles landed in the city center. One hit a trolley bus full of passengers.

Video showed bodies lying in the street, burning cars, and rescuers carrying bloodied survivors. The human rights center and several buildings were destroyed.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky updated on Sunday evening that 68 people are hospitalized, eight in serious condition. Twenty buildings were damaged, including five apartment blocks, cafes, shops, and the district court.

In his nightly address to the nation, he thanked the “many world leaders, diplomats, and ordinary people with big hearts [who] expressed their condolences”, and noted Russia’s ongoing rejection of efforts for a ceasefire.

This Friday marked one month since Russia spurned the U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire. They are not afraid. That’s why they keep launching ballistic missiles. That’s why there are nearly a hundred attack drones every night — most of them Shaheds — targeting ordinary Ukrainian cities….

Every Russian ballistic missile, every cruise missile, every Shahed drone and every guided bomb strikes not only our people and our communities, but also diplomacy — and the political efforts of everyone trying to end this war.

Russia’s “Blatant Disregard for Human Lives”

Among the leaders who condemned the Kremlin were French President Emmanuel Macron: “Everyone knows: This war was initiated by Russia alone. And today, it is clear that Russia alone chooses to continue it — with blatant disregard for human lives, international law, and the diplomatic efforts of President Trump.”

European Union’s foreign policy head Kaja Kallas emphasized, “Horrific example of Russia intensifying attacks while Ukraine has accepted an unconditional ceasefire.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared:

Strong measures are urgently needed to enforce a ceasefire. Europe will continue to reach out to partners and maintain strong pressure on Russia until the bloodshed ends and a just and lasting peace is achieved, on Ukraine’s terms and conditions.

Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the “perfidious act…i a serious war crime, deliberate and intended”.

That is the response, that is what [Vladimir] Putin does to those who talk with him of a ceasefire. Our willingness to discuss with him is interpreted not as a serious offer to make peace, but as weakness.

Trump: Strikes Were A “Mistake”

Trump Administration officials joined the condemnation, albeit without pledging any measures to halt the attacks. Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said, “Today’s Palm Sunday attack by Russian forces on civilian targets in Sumy crosses any line of decency,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio extended “our deepest condolences to the victims of today’s horrifying Russian missile attack”.

Trump tried to excuse the strikes as a “mistake”, telling reporters on Air Force One, “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.”

Asked to clarify what he meant by a “mistake”, Trump said only, “They made a mistake….You’re gonna ask them.”

He concentrated on attacking his predecessor and support of Kyiv: “This is [Joe] Biden’s war. This is not my war; I’ve been here for a very short period of time. This is a war that was under Biden. He gave [Ukraine] billions and billions of dollars.”

In an interview with the US outlet CBS, Zelensky invited Trump to visit Ukraine:

The security of the world is at stake. If we do not stand firm, [Putin] will advance further. It is not just idle speculation; the threat is real.

Please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead. Come, look, and then…let’s move with a plan…to finish the war.