Photo: © ДСНС України
Dozens Killed, Hundreds Injured in Attacks in Sumy – Médecins du Monde Condemns Repeated Attacks Against Civilians in Ukraine
On Sunday, April 12, 2025, two ballistic missiles struck the city center of Sumy, killing 35 people, including children, and injuring at least 119, according to Reuters. The attack targeted a densely populated area, including Sumy State University, where Médecins du Monde was scheduled to conduct a mental health training session at the end of the month. The seminar was planned at this university precisely because it had been identified as one of the few locations in the city offering appropriate shelter during emergencies. As civilian infrastructure, the university building is protected under International Humanitarian Law and should not be targeted.
Médecins du Monde has maintained a continuous presence in Ukraine since 2014, operating across 13 oblasts and providing essential healthcare and psychosocial support to war-affected communities. Since the escalation of the war in 2022, with particular intensity in recent weeks, we have observed repeated attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including health facilities and personnel. On April 1, 2025, the Chornobaivka outpatient clinic, supported by MdM, was attacked by artillery shelling. In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Nikopol city and surrounding areas, health facilities and civilian infrastructure are regularly targeted by missiles from the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Across the country, these attacks on civilians and on civilian and relief infrastructure are worsening the humanitarian situation while drastically reducing humanitarian actors’ capacity to respond and engage in recovery efforts.
We strongly call for independent, transparent, and comprehensive investigations into all attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, particularly health facilities. The fight against impunity is vital for the respect of International Humanitarian Law.
In regions like Sumy, where infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating and humanitarian needs are escalating, our work is not only urgent—it is lifesaving. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to stand with communities affected by the war in Ukraine, to call for their protection, and to continue delivering vital medical and psychosocial care across the country. Wherever people are, and however hard it becomes.
International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, signed by 196 countries, safeguard civilians and symbolize our united stand against indiscriminate violence and in defense of human dignity.
Today, human dignity is buried in the ashes of Sumy, in the rubble of Gaza, in the sand of Sudan.
Shall we remain silent spectators as the core humanitarian principles disappear? At Médecins du Monde we say no.