French President Emmanuel Macron has called for “tough measures” to force Russia into a ceasefire. His call came after a devastating Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Macron emphasized increasing pressure on Russia to bring an end to the war.
At least 34 people were killed in the Russian assault on the northeastern Ukrainian city. This information was reported by AFP on Monday, April 14.
In a statement posted Sunday on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), President Macron said, “Everyone knows that it was Russia who started this war. And even today, Russia continues it without any regard for human life, ignoring international law and diplomatic efforts by President (Donald) Trump.”
He further added, “It is now essential to take strict actions to compel Russia to agree to a ceasefire.” Macron also confirmed that the attack on Sumy resulted in the deaths of many civilians, including children.
According to Ukrainian officials, on Sunday morning, two Russian ballistic missile strikes in central Sumy killed at least 34 people and injured around 100 others. Kyiv stated that children were among the dead.
Since Russia launched its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of civilians have been killed. Over the course of nearly three years of war, Russian forces have partially occupied four Ukrainian provinces: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
The combined area of the Russian-occupied parts of these provinces constitutes about one-fifth of Ukraine’s total territory. While neither country has officially disclosed the full extent of their casualties, Western intelligence agencies estimate the number of dead and wounded to be in the hundreds of thousands.