Russia claims its deadly attack on Ukraine's Sumy targeted military forces as condemnation grows

BRUSSELS (AP) — Russia on Monday claimed its deadly missile attack on Ukraine's Sumy that killed and wounded scores including children had targeted a gathering of Ukrainian troops, while European leaders condemned the attack as a war crime.

Ukrainian officials have said two ballistic missiles on Palm Sunday morning hit the heart of Sumy, a city about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Ukraine's border with Russia, killing at least 34 people, including two children, and wounding 119. It was the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in Ukraine in just over a week.

Asked about the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia's military only strikes military targets. Russia's Defense Ministry said the strike targeted a gathering of senior military officers and accused Kyiv of using civilians as shields by holding military meetings in the city's center.

The ministry claimed to kill over 60 troops. Russia gave no evidence to back its claims.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a global response to the attack, saying the first strike hit university buildings and the second exploded above street level.

“Only real pressure on Russia can stop this. We need tangible sanctions against those sectors that finance the Russian killing machine,” he wrote Monday on social media.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, called the attacks “Russia’s mocking answer” to Kyiv’s agreement to a ceasefire proposed by the United States over a month ago.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen noted that the attack on Sumy came shortly after President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It demonstrates that “Russia shows full disregard for the peace process, but also that Russia has zero regard for human life," Valtonen said.

“I hope that President Trump, the U.S. administration, see that the leader of Russia is mocking their goodwill, and I hope the right decisions are taken,” Sikorski told reporters in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers met.

Lithuania’s foreign minister, Kestutis Budrys, echoed Ukraine's assertion that the Russian strike used cluster munitions to target civilians, calling it “a war crime by definition.” The Associated Press has been unable to verify that claim.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the attack shows that Putin has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire, and called for the European Union to "take the toughest sanctions against Russia to suffocate its economy and prevent it from fueling its war effort."

The EU has imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia and is working on a 17th, but the measures are getting harder to agree on because they also impact European economies.

Germany’s chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, described the Sumy attack as “a serious war crime" during an appearance on ARD television.

Merz made clear he stands by his past calls to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something that outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. He said the Ukrainian military needs to be able to “get ahead of the situation" and that any delivery of long-range missiles must be done in consultation with European partners.

Asked about Merz's statement, the Kremlin spokesman said such a move would “inevitably lead only to further escalation of the situation around Ukraine," telling reporters that “regrettably, European capitals aren't inclined to search for ways to launch peace talks and are inclined instead to keep provoking the continuation of the war."

Russian forces this month have dropped 2,800 air bombs on Ukraine and fired more than 1,400 strike drones and nearly 60 missiles of various types.

The attack on Sumy followed a April 4 missile strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih that killed some 20 people, including nine children.

Trump has previously described the strike on Sumy as a “mistake.” On Monday, he said the mistake was allowing the war to start in the first place, criticizing former President Joe Biden, Zelenskyy and Putin.

“Biden could’ve stopped it and Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it and Putin should’ve never started it,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “Everybody’s to blame.”

Late Sunday, Russian exploding drones attacked Odesa, injuring eight people. Regional head Oleh Kiper said a medical facility was among the buildings damaged.

Russia fired a total of 62 Shahed drones over Ukraine late Sunday and early Monday, Ukraine's air force said, adding that 40 were destroyed and 11 others jammed.

Two Chinese nationals, who were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting on the Russian side, said at a news conference in Kyiv on Monday that they had joined the war voluntarily after seeing recruitment announcements on TikTok. They said they weren't encouraged or supported by Chinese authorities, who had warned them about the danger of participating in the conflict.

One of the men, speaking through an interpreter, said he did not intend to take part directly in combat but was sent to the front lines anyway. Another said that Russian recruiters abused his trust and put him in what he described as a “trap.”

They said they were given orders through gestures and hand signals, and Russian personnel constantly accompanied them, leaving no chance for escape. Both said they hope to be included in a future prisoner exchange and return to their families.

It was impossible for the AP to corroborate their statements or independently verify under what circumstances the two men spoke.

When he first announced the capture of the Chinese nationals last week, Zelensky said there were more than 150 other Chinese fighting for Russia. Beijing responded that it always asks its citizens to avoid participating in any military operations.

While China has provided strong diplomatic support for Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it is not believed to have knowingly provided Russia with troops, weapons or military expertise.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing Russia with drones, while American and South Korean officials say North Korea has sent thousands of troops to help Russia on the battlefield.

Associated Press writers Chris Megerian in Washington, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sam McNeil in Barcelona, Spain, Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko visits the site of the Russian missile attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises from an explosion following a Russian drone strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises from an explosion following a Russian drone strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

An excavator clears the rubble from a University building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Municipal workers clean a street in front of a University building destroyed by a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Kyrylo Illiashenko, 13, sits on a hospital bed, Monday, April 14, 2025, after being injured on Sunday by a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, while trying to help others evacuate a burning bus that he later exited through a shattered window. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Kateryna Sitak, 23, a teacher, cries after laying flowers and toys on a site of a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Kateryna Sitak, 23, a teacher, cries while laying flowers and toys on a site of a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Smoke rises from an explosion following a Russian drone strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, April 14, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, April 14, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

A dead body lies on the ground after a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Volodymyr Hordiienko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry a dead body from a trolleybus after a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Volodymyr Hordiienko)

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a university building destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A rescue worker rests near university building destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Sumy, Ukraine, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is hanging near its records on Tuesday following a mixed start to the latest profit reporting season for big U.S. companies. An update on inflation is meanwhile offering little momentum, either upward or downward, after coming in close to expectations.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses during the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 287 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%. Both the S&P 500 and Dow are coming off all-time highs.

U.S. companies are under pressure to deliver strong growth in profits for the last three months of 2025 to justify the record-breaking runs for their stock prices. Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to deliver overall earnings per share that are 8.3% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

JPMorgan Chase helped kick off the latest reporting season by delivering weaker profit and revenue than analysts expected. Its stock fell 3.1% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market, but the shortfall may have been partly because some analysts hadn't updated their estimates to account for the earnings hit taken due to the bank's purchase of the Apple Card credit card portfolio.

CEO Jamie Dimon sounded relatively optimistic about the U.S. economy, saying “consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy.”

Delta Air Lines lost 3.2% despite reporting a stronger profit for the end of 2025 than analysts expected. Its revenue came up short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for profit in 2026.

Chipotle Mexican Grill fell 3% after saying it's looking for a new chief marketing officer, a move that analysts said was a surprise.

On the winning side of Wall Street were several health care companies after they raised their financial forecasts at an industry conference with analysts.

Moderna jumped 12.1% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after saying it expects to report revenue for 2025 that's above the midpoint of the range it had forecast in November. It also offered updates on several products, including a seasonal flu vaccine that could see potential approvals beginning later this year.

Revvity rose 4.6% after life sciences company said it expects to report profit for 2025 that's above the top end of the forecasted range it had earlier given. Its forecast for revenue in the fourth quarter also topped analysts' expectations.

Outside of health care, L3Harris Technologies rose 2.2% after the defense company said it’s planning to break off its Missile Solutions business into a separate company through an initial public offering. As part of the plan, the U.S. government agreed to invest $1 billion in the business, which will convert into common stock in the IPO.

L3 Harris will keep a controlling interest in the Missile Solutions business following the IPO.

In the bond market, yields held relatively steady after Tuesday's inflation report strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve may be able to cut its main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market.

Lower interest rates could make borrowing cheaper for U.S. households and boost prices for investments, but they could also worsen inflation at the same time. Tuesday’s report showed that U.S. consumers paid prices last month for gasoline, food and other costs of living that were 2.7% higher overall than a year earlier. That’s a touch worse than economists expected and above the Fed’s 2% target for inflation.

But, more encouragingly, an important underlying trend of inflation wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected. That could give the Fed more leeway to lower interest rates later.

“We’ve seen this movie before—inflation isn’t reheating, but it remains above target,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

The data helped the 10-year Treasury ease to 4.18% from 4.19% late Monday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, inched down to 3.53% from 3.54%.

A day earlier, Treasury yields swung amid worries about the Federal Reserve's worsening feud with President Donald Trump. The concern is that the president's attacks on the Fed could result in a central bank that's less independent and more subservient to the White House. Experts say that in turn could lead to higher inflation over the long term.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 soared 3.1% for one of the world’s biggest moves and set a record, thanks in part to gains for technology-related stocks.

Investors expect Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, to try to capitalize on her relatively high popularity to call a snap election, hoping to strengthen her mandate for higher government spending.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Trader Robert Finnerty Jr., foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Sal Suarino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A pair of traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP)