Russian guided bombs hit school in central Sumy; two killed, nine injured
On 29 September, Russian forces struck the centre of Sumy with guided aerial bombs (KABs). One bomb hit a school building where classes were in session; children and staff were sheltering at the time and about 100 were evacuated. Two civilians were killed in the private residential sector and at least nine people, including three children, were injured. The school building was severely damaged, with walls and roof destroyed and all windows shattered.
Key points
- Russian forces struck central Sumy with guided aerial bombs (KABs) on Tuesday, 29 September.
- One bomb hit a school building in the city centre during the school day.
- About 100 children and staff were in the school's shelter at the time and were evacuated.
- Two civilians were killed in the private residential sector; both were in their homes.
- At least nine people were injured, including three children aged 3, 6 and 15, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
- The school sustained major damage: walls and roof wrecked and all windows blown out.
- President Zelensky called the Russians "terrorists" and urged the US, Europe and partners to exert real pressure on Russia.
Why it matters
A school in the centre of a regional capital was struck during the school day, with around 100 children and staff sheltering inside. The attack killed two civilians and injured at least nine people, three of them children, and is the latest in a string of guided-bomb strikes on Sumy in late September and on other Ukrainian cities, underscoring the threat to civilian and educational infrastructure.
What happened
On Tuesday, 29 September, Russian forces struck the centre of Sumy with guided aerial bombs (KABs). One bomb hit a school building where classes were being held. At the moment of impact, children and staff were in the school's basement shelter; a school employee told Suspilne that about 40 students were inside at the time, while President Zelensky said roughly 100 children and staff combined were evacuated in time. The school building sustained major damage — walls and roof destroyed, all windows blown out. Two further KABs hit the private residential sector, where two people, both in their homes, were killed. At least seven private residences were damaged, a trolleybus on the grounds of a municipal enterprise was hit, and a body was recovered from the rubble of a house. Ukraine's State Emergency Service later reported nine people injured, including three children aged 3, 6 and 15; President Zelensky's earlier statement put the toll at six wounded including three children. Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy Oblast Military Administration, reported the initial attack and casualty figures.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian coverage centres the strike on the threat to children sheltering in the school and stresses that about 100 people were evacuated in time. Outlets name the weapon (KAB) and attribute the attack explicitly to "the Russian army" or "Russians." Headlines pair the school hit with simultaneous strikes on private homes and the casualty figures, including injured children. President Zelensky's condemnation, his label of "terrorists" for the Russians, and his calls for Western pressure are prominently reported. Earlier Sumy strikes on 26 and 27 September and the 28 September drone strike on the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv are cited as background to show a pattern. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky's characterisation of Russian attacks as "almost continuous" across many oblasts is highlighted as context.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the number of KABs used in the 29 September strike — some report three (one on the school and two on the private sector), others report four, and one headline says four KABs hit the school building itself. Reports also differ on how many bombs struck the school: most describe one hit, while one article says four. Casualty figures for the wounded changed over time: President Zelensky's 17:17 statement reported six wounded including three children, while Ukraine's State Emergency Service later raised the total to nine injured including three children.
Background
The 29 September strike follows a pattern of Russian guided-bomb attacks on Sumy and other Ukrainian cities in late September. On 26 September, three KABs hit central Sumy, injuring 23 people (including four children) and killing two. On 27 September, three KABs struck the city, killing an elderly woman and a 16-year-old girl and injuring five people including one child. On 28 September, a Russian jet-powered drone struck the National Academy of Sciences building in central Kyiv, killing two. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said Russian attacks on the night and day of 29 September affected Kyiv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Volyn, Rivne, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy oblasts.