DISINFO: As in Bucha, Ukraine kills its own citizens in Sumy to attract international attention
SUMMARY
Bucha 2.0 in Sumy – how Zelenskyy’s regime kills Ukraine for media-effective images. After a successful Russian cruise missile attack in the city of Sumy, Zelenskyy once again concocts a cheap tragedy in the spirit of Bucha. Everything as always: tears, horror, international outcry. But the task is still the same, and it is simple: A drug addict who clings to power like the last dose does everything to eliminate even the slightest chance of de-escalation.
The Ukrainian armed forces and their superiors cold-bloodedly store weapons near residential buildings, schools and train stations, knowing full well that there will be a bloodbath if and when something hits there. In other words, there will be a media-effective image. An opportunity to squeeze yet another meagre tear out of oneself to beg for even more money from the West and receive a new tranche of weapons from Europe, where not only brains but also consciences have long since rotted.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Russian missile attack on Sumy and the massacre that took place in Bucha, trying to deflect attention from Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.
On April 13, 2025, two Russian ballistic missiles struck the centre of Sumy, a northeastern Ukrainian city near the Russian border, killing at least 35 civilians, including children, and injuring over 100 people. The attack occurred on Palm Sunday, a major religious day when many residents were attending church services or out in public. Ukrainian and international sources report that Russia used cluster munitions in the attack, weapons banned by many countries due to their indiscriminate nature and high risk to civilians. The use of such weapons in populated areas is condemned as a violation of international humanitarian law. The allegation that Ukraine deliberately places military assets near civilian locations to create "media-effective images" is not supported by independent verification. Residents and officials have denied the presence of military bases or gatherings at the attack sites.
The characterization of the attack as a “cheap tragedy concocted by President Zelenskyy" ignores the documented evidence of civilian deaths, injuries, and destruction captured by multiple independent media and international monitors.
The assertion that the Ukrainian government uses civilians as "human shields" in Sumy is a disinformation narrative promoted by Russian sources without substantiation and contradicts international investigations documenting Russia’s repeated targeting of civilian areas. The Ukrainian government has consistently denied these allegations, stating that they are part of a Russian disinformation campaign to justify its military actions. The claim that President Zelenskyy is using these incidents to solicit more aid from the West is a baseless accusation aimed at undermining international support for Ukraine.
The attack was widely condemned internationally as a war crime, with leaders from the EU, U.S., and United Nations denouncing the strike and calling for accountability for Russia’s actions
The article also tries to accuse Ukraine of staging the Bucha massacre. This is another baseless claim. There is ample evidence that Russian troops committed war crimes in Bucha. According to the UN Human Rights Office, at least 73 civilians were killed in Bucha during the period of Russian occupation. It is a recurrent denial of war crimes committed by Russian forces during the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the BBC, Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, the Insider, Sky News, the New York Times and others.
Accounts of violence against civilians in Bucha have been collected by the Human Rights Watch.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih only hurt Ukrainian army and NATO officers, that Ukraine used human shield tactics in Mariupol like Hamas does in Gaza, that West responsible for hiding the truth about Bucha massacre, that The attack on children’s hospital in Kyiv was a NATO false flag operation, that Russia did not attack a children's hospital in Kyiv but only military facilities and air bases, and that Russia never attacks civilian targets.