Russian Guided Bomb Hits Kindergarten in Sumy, Injures Two Staff Members

A Russian guided aerial bomb struck a kindergarten in Sumy on July 2, damaging the building and injuring two educators at a facility that had been running summer sessions with children.

Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Oleh Hryhorov reported the attack on Telegram, while the Russian independent outlet ASTRA, citing city administration head Serhii Kryvosheienko, confirmed the bomb fell directly on the preschool.

Children had been inside the building that same morning. Only the timing of the strike prevented casualties among them, in the latest of a string of Russian attacks on schools and kindergartens far from any military target.

The facility sits in a residential neighborhood of the Sumy community. Hryhorov reported significant damage to the educational building, its playground and nearby private houses.

Staff were inside at the moment of impact, and medics were treating two people as officials continued to verify casualty figures.

According to ASTRA, the two injured are kindergarten educators. Three private homes and two cars near the facility were also damaged. Two more guided bombs hit infrastructure facilities in the community, Hryhorov added, noting that the full scale of the attack was still being assessed.

Guided aerial bombs, known as KABs, are air-launched munitions that Russian aircraft release from a distance, allowing pilots to strike without entering the range of many Ukrainian air defense systems.

Their heavy warheads and standoff launch profile have made them one of the most destructive weapons used against Ukrainian cities near the front line and the border. Sumy, roughly 30 kilometers from Russian territory, sits well within their reach, and the bombs are difficult to intercept once released.

This is not the first time Russian weapons have hit a preschool in Sumy.

On May 6, two strike drones hit a kindergarten in the central part of the city, killing a female security guard whose body was recovered from the rubble and injuring two other staff members. Children were not attending the facility at the time.

The city has also come under repeated KAB bombardment in recent days. On June 30, Russian forces struck Sumy with four guided aerial bombs, wounding 11 people in attacks on urban infrastructure, with rescue teams pulling a woman from the rubble of a civilian facility.

Truth is Under Attack

We report the war as it unfolds directly from the people and places most affected by it. Your support helps us bring these stories to the world.

SUPPORT