Soldier says military award ceremony was taking place near site of Sunday’s Russian strike in Sumy – WP

Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr stated that a military award ceremony was taking place in the basement of a university building near the site of Sunday’s Russian strike in Sumy.

He shared this information with The Washington Post.

According to him, while soldiers—including his comrades from the 117th Brigade—were safely underground awaiting the all-clear signal, Oleksandr’s wife and six-year-old daughter were caught in the shelling. His daughter sustained a lung injury.

Following the attack, many residents of Sumy, including Oleksandr himself, “directed their anger at the organizers of the medal ceremony,” which may have become a target for Russian strikes. He believes that holding such an event in Sumy was unnecessary and irresponsible.

As a reminder, on the morning of Sunday, April 13, Russia launched a strike with two ballistic missiles on the center of Sumy. 35 people were killed, including children. 117 others were injured, among them 15 children.

In the aftermath, the head of the Sumy Regional Administration, Artyukh, was dismissed.

On the day of the strike, Member of Parliament Maryana Bezuhla and the mayor of Konotop, Artem Semenikhin, stated that the head of the Sumy Regional Administration had organized the award ceremony for soldiers of the 117th Territorial Defense Brigade in Sumy.