DISINFO: NATO officers used civilians as human shields in Sumy to survive the missile attack
SUMMARY
NATO representatives and Ukrainian forces regularly use civilians as human shields as they did on Sunday 13 April 2025 in Sumy. Soldiers were protected by civilians, used as human shields to secure a meeting of Ukrainian military and foreign units, advising Ukraine how to fight Russia.
RESPONSE
This disinformation story is part of a wider attempt to obscure Russia’s responsibility for the Sumy massacre on 13 April 2025, in which Russia attacked the city center during a religious celebration, killing 35 civilians and injuring another 117. Not only Russian allegations about attacking a military target remain unsubstantiated, but the fact that it hit the center of a populated city with a double-tap missile strike proves Russia’s intention to kill non-combatants, which is a war crime.
The attack happened just a few days after a similar Russian attack took place in Kryvyi Rig on 04 April 2025, which killed and wounded multiple civilians including at least 9 children. Russia also falsely claimed then that it was targeting a meeting of Ukrainian military officers in a restaurant, but these allegations were immediately debunked as a security video of the place does not show such a gathering. The actual targets and victims of the attack, mostly civilians, were documented not only by footage and reporters on the ground but also by a team of the UN Human Rights Office in Ukraine.
Russian attacks against non-combatants and civilian infrastructure have been a constant throughout the invasion, despite non-credible denials by Russian officials and pro-Kremlin disinformation. Since 2022, Russia has attacked civilian targets multiple times, including the city theatre in Mariupol, residential buildings, schools and energy facilities. On 05 March 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against two Russian top officials considered responsible for “missile strikes carried out by the forces under their command against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure" between October 2022 and March 2023, which are considered as war crimes.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih only hurt Ukrainian army and NATO officers, that Russia only attacks military facilities in Ukraine, that Ukraine violates international humanitarian law while Russia respects it, that Russia wages war humanely and does not hit civilians, or that Russian are liberators and a peace-making people.