How Russian strikes on Sumy City left at least 28 dead

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On 13 April 2025, two Russian ballistic missiles struck central Sumy City in quick succession, marking the highest loss of civilian life in a single incident verified by CIR since October 2023.

In Ukraine, the Russian military has often deployed a “double-tap” strategy, where a first strike is closely followed by a second directed at the same location. Its goal: to cause maximum harm. 

The 13 April Sumy strikes clearly fit the double-tap mould, with footage of the second strike filmed during rescue operations for the first. The two missiles fired in quick succession reflect what CIR investigator Adam Campbell describes as a “deadly pragmatism” that doubles down on destruction and accuracy, often at the expense of civilians.

Missile attacks in Sumy City are common: on 3 June 2025, Russian forces struck central Sumy City again, this time killing four and injuring 28, according to Reuters. Between 24 and 26 May, Russia launched one of its largest waves of drone and missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, consisting of some 367 drones and missiles, killing at least 12, according to the Associated Press. These attacks were followed by yet further attacks on 6 June and 10 June.

Russia is responsible for a litany of double-tap incidents throughout Ukraine, some of which appear to have directly targeted emergency workers. In August 2023, a double-tap strike in Pokrovsk reportedly killed two first responders, also covered by CIR. Drones are also used to carry out double-taps – as in Kharkiv in April 2024, when a Shahed drone killed an emergency service worker responding to damage caused by an earlier strike. On 6 June, another double-tap strike resulted in the deaths of six, including three emergency workers, according to President Zelenskyy. Russian forces have previously used this tactic on civilians elsewhere, most notably in Syria. 

In the recent Sumy incident, too, civilians rushed to aid the injured. One local reported the horror of being trapped on board a busy bus caught in the second strike, unable to open the doors blocked by the bodies of dead passengers to free those still inside. Workers from one nearby shop were injured by the second missile after rushing out to help children injured by the first, according to Ukrainian media outlet 0542. It is clear that when double-tap tactics are applied to densely populated civilian areas, the consequences for locals are severe.

How the attack unfolded

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that the 13 April strikes targeted a Ukrainian military meeting and that more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen were killed. However, CIR investigators found no definitive evidence of military personnel among the casualties. Investigators analysed user-generated content (UGC) to establish a timeline of events:

Assessing the damage

CIR verified 44 casualties from both strikes, of which 28 were deceased, 11 injured, and 5 in an unknown but critical condition. The Sumy Prosecutor General’s Office reported that 35 people had been killed, and the Kyiv Indepdendent that at least 117 had been injured.

The missiles severely damaged two buildings, approximately 50 metres apart: the first strike hit the Sumy State University Congress Centre, and the second the Sumy State University Educational and Scientific Institute of Business Technologies building. The strikes also damaged the Sumovsky Estate, a 19th century neo-Renaissance building, verified by CIR and reported by Ukrainian outlet Suspilne. 

The majority of casualties were most likely caused by the second missile, which detonated just above the ground, scattering deadly shrapnel over a 60-metre radius, according to 3D model analysis carried out by CIR.

Shrapnel from the second strike appears to have spread outwards over a larger area due to the detonation occurring in the open – leaving a distinct pattern along the outer wall of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Business Technologies building. The spread of the damage can be seen below.

Animation by CIR

Conflicting claims

Russia’s MoD stated that 60 Ukrainian servicemen were killed in the attack, while Ukrainian media outlet Pravda reported that the commander of the 27th Rocket Artillery Brigade was killed, though it is unclear whether he was in the area in a military or civilian capacity. Ukrainian outlet Obozrevatel reported that a soldier from Chernihiv was also killed in the incident. 

It is possible that the casualties verified by CIR merely represent a fraction of the total, which could include members of the Ukrainian military, or – as CIR’s analysis indicates – that civilians comprise the overwhelming majority of the casualties. The fact remains that the strikes resulted in the deaths of at least 28 civilians, regardless of the intended target.

Ukraine retaliates

On 13 April, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s MoD, reported on Telegram that the missiles that struck Sumy City were launched by Russia’s 112th and 448th missile brigades from Liski, Voronezh Oblast, and Lezhenki, Kursk Oblast, respectively. 

On 16 and 17 April, the Ukrainian military launched a series of seemingly retaliatory strikes on the 112th Missile Brigade’s base near Liski. CIR analysis revealed the following sequence of events:

These retaliatory strikes could be read as a demonstration of Ukraine’s ability to match the striking distance of Russian attacks, according to Campbell. Their focus on military barracks, rather than on weapons stores or unmanned infrastructure, indicates their retaliatory nature, with the strikes likely intended to cause harm to the ostensible perpetrators of the attacks in Sumy City, Campbell explains.

‘Cynical’ Russian strategy

The 13 April double-tap strike in Sumy reflects a “cynical” Russian strategy, Campbell adds, that places civilians and first responders at considerable risk by firing successive missiles at busy urban areas. Regardless of the intended target of the strikes, the reality is that they resulted in the collateral killing of at least 28 civilians. These strikes are part of a wider pattern of “increasing levels of civilian death and destruction” in the oblast, he says, which, for the time being, shows no sign of slowing.