site.btaUkranian Ambassador: Russian Missiles Hit Sumy In Cold Blood, With No Military Aim

Russia launched a merciless and cold-blooded strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, fully aware there was no military targets and that the victims would be civilians, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Olesya Ilashchuk said here on Monday.

She was speaking at the opening of a National Scientific Conference titled "The Freedom of Ukraine". The event is organized by the New Bulgarian University Department of New Bulgarian Studies with the support of the Association of Reserve Officers "Atlantic".

The conference began with a minute of silence in memory of the victims in Sumy, following Russian strikes on April 13. According to Ilashchuk, the attack killed 34 people and injured over 120. She emphasized that the two strikes hit the city centre during a major Christian holiday, Palm Sunday.

“We, the Ukrainian civilians, have become the targets of cluster munitions. This is what the Russian Patriarch has blessed as 'spiritual struggle'. This is Russian Orthodox fascism - it has nothing to do with Christianity. It is a pseudo-Christianity that blesses missiles instead of bread,” the Ambassador said. 

Ilashchuk added that the price of a free Ukraine is a pain that cannot be described in words, marked by daily reports of casualties. This pain, she said, is now embedded in the DNA of the nation.

“The freedom of Ukraine is not a one-time historical achievement—it is a constant choice and struggle. Only together we can overcome this daily terror that rains down like drones and rockets. Thank you to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people,” Ilashchuk said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it one of the deadliest in Ukraine in 2025 and urged a strong international response against Moscow. "This happened on a day when people go to church – Palm Sunday, the day marking the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem," Zelenskyy said, as quoted by Ukrinform.

Bulgaria has condemned the strike. The Foreign Ministry in Sofia posted on x: "We are horrified by the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed and injured civilians, including children gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday," the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on social media platform X. "Our hearts are with the families of the victims and the injured ones. Bulgaria stands with Ukraine," the Ministry added.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov expressed solidarity with the people of Sumy and all Ukraine, and wrote in a post on X: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the horrifying missile attack in the centre of Sumy on Palm Sunday. My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and all those affected by this brutal act of aggression. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine."