Missile Strikes on Sumy by Russia Kill Many: Buffer Zone after Ukraine’s Failure in Kursk
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The Russian Federation killed at least 34 people in the center of Sumy in Ukraine. Therefore, on Palm Sunday in Sumy, they witnessed the deaths of so many innocent civilians, including children.
Deaths flowed after two Iskander-variant ballistic missiles hit the environs of the Sumy State University.
The BBC reports, “Ukrainian authorities told the BBC that 20 buildings were damaged, including four educational institutions, as well as cafes, shops and five apartment buildings. Ten cars and trams were also hit.”
The US Special Envoy to Ukraine (Keith Kellogg) condemned the attack. He said the brutal attack “crosses any line of decency.”
CNN reports, “The strikes hit the city center on Palm Sunday as residents were attending church services on one of the busiest church-going days of the year, according to Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.”
The Russian Federation countered that the attack was aimed at Ukraine’s military.
TASS News reports, “On April 13, the Russian Armed Forces delivered a strike by two Iskander-M tactical missiles on a gathering place of the command staff of Ukraine’s Seversk operational-tactical group in the city of Sumy amid the Ukrainian army’s active counter-measures by foreign-made electronic warfare and air defense systems, the ministry said in a statement.”
TASS News continued, “The strike on the target eliminated more than 60 Ukrainian army personnel, it said.”
Ironically, the failed Ukraine military adventure in the Kursk region (the Russian Federation) entails the Russian Federation seeking a buffer zone in the Sumy region. Hence, once Kursk was retaken by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and indigenous pro-Russian regional allies, it meant that Russia would seek a buffer zone in this part of Ukraine.
Other important contested areas, including Pokrovsk, will determine the hand of the Russian Federation and Ukraine in the following months. Accordingly, it remains to be seen if the Russian Federation will seek to take Pokrovsk militarily during the diplomatic period and other important areas – when talks to end the conflict begin in earnest.
All vested parties in this complex war need to reach an agreement that is long-lasting and where the redrawing of the map is set in stone (providing guarantees for both Ukrainians and Russians).
If not, deaths will continue to flow and Ukraine will be further weakened.
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