Attack on Sumy on Palm Sunday 2025: DIU Identifies Involved Russian Commanders

The DIU has identified Russian military personnel involved in the missile strike on Sumy on April 13, 2025, which killed 35 people.

This was reported by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, which published details of the investigation.

They also noted that the investigation was conducted in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine.

This refers to the strike by two Iskander-M ballistic missiles on the city of Sumy on Palm Sunday.

Thirty-five people were killed, including two children. Another 125 residents of the city were wounded, 22 of whom were children.

As a result of the attack, nearly 100 civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed or damaged.

According to the investigation, the shelling was initiated by Colonel General Aleksey Kim, Chief of Staff of the Russian Federation’s Joint Forces Group, and Colonel Vasily Solovyov, Head of Intelligence.

The strike was prepared by officials from the Center for Planning and Coordination of Firepower.

Specifically, these include Vice Admiral Sergey Pinchuk, Colonel Aleksandr Kisedobrev, Rear Admiral Aleksey Petrushin, and Colonel Anatoliy Gorodetskyi.

The orders to launch missiles from the territories of the Kursk and Voronezh regions were given by the commanders of the missile brigades, Colonels Roman Polushin and Sergei Ponomarev.

Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine have notified all eight Russian military personnel in absentia of their suspicion of committing a war crime that resulted in the loss of human life.

Earlier, Putin acknowledged that the strikes on Sumy and Kryvyi Rih in April 2025 were deliberate.