Nine killed in Russian attack, says Ukraine hours after peace talks

A man reacts after the trolleybus got damaged by a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine. File photo
| Photo Credit: AP

A Russian drone hit a bus, killing nine people and injuring four more in the region of Sumy, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday (May 17, 2025) , in an attack that took place hours after Moscow and Kyiv held their first direct peace talks in years.

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“This is not just another shelling — it is a cynical war crime,” Ukraine’s National Police said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Ihor Tkachenko, head of Sumy’s military administration, said on Telegram that a rescue operation was under way.

The meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey on Friday (May 16, 2025) failed to broker a temporary ceasefire. It was the first direct dialogue between the two sides since the early months of the war that Russia launched in February 2022.

Ukraine’s police posted photos of a dark blue passenger van nearly destroyed, with the roof torn off and the windows blown out.

Reuters could not independently verify the Ukrainian report. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.