Sumy, Ukraine, is within the crosshairs of recent Russian offensive : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F54%2Fb8%2F91270fe1426782409294da6a34c6%2Fdsc08609.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F54%2Fb8%2F91270fe1426782409294da6a34c6%2Fdsc08609.jpg" class="img" alt="Damaged residential building in Sumy after strike of Russian kamikaze drone Shahed on Jan. 30, 2025." fetchpriority="high"/> An condominium constructing within the metropolis of Sumy after Russia struck it with a Shahed drone early this yr. "We'd like extra air protection, we want extra every part," stated Anton Svachko, a member of Ukraine's parliament from the town. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR SUMY, Ukraine — That horrible Sunday retains replaying in Natalia Tsybulko's head. The massive explosions. The frantic calls to seek out her daughter. The phrases from her son-in-law that shattered her life.

"'Mother, Olena is not with us'," Tsybulko recalled him saying when he known as, his voice ragged. "He was holding her physique in his arms."

Olena Kohut, her 46-year-old daughter, was killed in a Russian missile assault right here in April. She was the organist of the native philharmonic and one thing of a celeb in Sumy, a northern Ukrainian regional capital with a historical past of music and resistance, about 15 miles from the Russian border.

"You assume you have been hardened by this struggle, it has been happening so lengthy," Tsybulko says. "After which it takes the very gentle of your life."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F94%2F4f%2F6f2f6b2c45ff99682e935c7fd500%2Fnatalia-with-olena-portrait.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F94%2F4f%2F6f2f6b2c45ff99682e935c7fd500%2Fnatalia-with-olena-portrait.jpg" class="img" alt="Natalia stands with a portrait of her daughter, Olena, who was killed in a Russian attack in Sumy." loading="lazy"/> Classically skilled singer and voice trainer Natalia Tsybulko gazes at a portrait of her daughter, Olena Kohut, the regional philharmonic's organist soloist, who was killed in a Russian missile assault in Sumy in April. Joanna Kakissis/NPR cover caption

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Joanna Kakissis/NPR Like many Ukrainian cities, Sumy has been scarred by struggle. It noticed heavy combating early within the full-scale invasion and has, within the final yr, turn out to be a frequent goal of Russian drones, missiles and guided bombs. Now, Ukraine's high normal, Oleksandr Syrsky, says at the least 50,000 Russian troops have massed on the opposite aspect of the border, although Ukraine has thus far managed to thwart them.

"You are alive!" Sumy sits on the banks of the Psel River, and even now, regardless of common assaults, locals fill the leafy riverside promenade when the climate is heat and sunny. They used to flock to music festivals on Bach and brass bands earlier than the struggle. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, lots of Sumy's authorities fled, and residents defended the town on their very own.

"We're pleasant however powerful," stated performing mayor Artem Kobzar. "We do not again down."

Within the final yr, Kobzar stated, the town of Sumy has turn out to be a magnet for many who reside in better Sumy — villages on the Russian border, the place assaults are extra frequent. Newspaper writer Natalia Kalinichenko is from Biliopillia, a village within the area lower than 4 miles from the Russian border. Kalinichenko now lives part-time in Sumy, although the newspaper she runs remains to be delivered to these remaining within the village.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6612x4408+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff9%2F58%2Fb7017f00459aa5ac7e5b516e728b%2Fdsc04872-enhanced-nr.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6612x4408+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff9%2F58%2Fb7017f00459aa5ac7e5b516e728b%2Fdsc04872-enhanced-nr.jpg" class="img" alt="Natalia Kalinichenko, head editor of "Bilopilshchyna" newspaper holds newspapers "Bilopilshchyna" and "Spinopillia" on Jan 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Newspaper writer Natalia Kalinichenko holds up copies of two newspapers from Sumy area's border villages, now beneath fixed Russian assault. "In lots of villages alongside the border, there's usually no electrical energy or web," she stated. "And the printed copy of a newspaper is commonly the one supply of knowledge for folks." Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR "In lots of villages alongside the border, there's usually no electrical energy or web," she stated. "And the printed copy of a newspaper is commonly the one supply of knowledge for folks."

The area of Sumy borders Russia's Kursk area. Final summer time, Ukraine launched a shock incursion into Kursk. The operation was meant to distract Russia and pull Russian troops from weak sections of the japanese frontline. As Russian troops slowly clawed again most of Kursk, assaults on Sumy – and its regional capital, Sumy metropolis – elevated.

In a single assault in late January, Russian drones hit an condominium complicated in an in a single day assault, killing 9 folks and injuring 13. Smoke and dirt stuffed the air as surprised residents ran out of the damaged constructing, bundling their cats and canine inside their coats and bathrobes, and calling their neighbors.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2F2e%2Fc268e5ae481fbe2642a89563e0f7%2Fdsc03590-enhanced-nr.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2F2e%2Fc268e5ae481fbe2642a89563e0f7%2Fdsc03590-enhanced-nr.jpg" class="img" alt="A rescue team operates on the spot after a strike by a Russian kamikaze drone Shahed in Sumy. Nine apartments were completely destroyed, 11 people killed and 14 injured on Jan 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Emergency employees attempt to entry a crushed condominium within the metropolis of Sumy hit by an Iranian-designed assault drone launched by Russia. The assault early this yr killed 11 folks and injured 14. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR "You are alive!" one lady screamed in aid into her cellular phone.

Anton Svachko, a member of Ukraine's parliament from the town, drove to the scene instantly after he heard the information.

"We'd like extra air protection, we want extra air protection items, we want extra every part," he instructed NPR, rubbing his eyes as he surveyed the harm.

Standing subsequent to him was the performing mayor, Kobzar, who comforted two siblings who could not discover their family members and a household whose house was destroyed.

"The folks whose houses have been struck, the very first thing they ask me is, 'how rapidly can my house be rebuilt?'" Kobzar stated.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2Fcd%2F6a15418d44929a687f38bd0f323c%2Fdsc03212-enhanced-nr.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2Fcd%2F6a15418d44929a687f38bd0f323c%2Fdsc03212-enhanced-nr.jpg" class="img" alt="Artem Kobzar, major of Sumy city near damaged building talks to victims of strike on Jan. 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> The performing mayor of Sumy, Artem Kobzar, talks to residents of an condominium complicated hit by a Russian drone strike early this yr. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR Volodymyr Silvanovskyi, a 63-year-old customs official, shook his head after he came upon his neighbors, a pair of their 60s, had been killed, crushed inside their very own condominium. As he ran out, he noticed their whole condominium had caved in.

"We keep as a result of we do not have anyplace to go," he stated, his voice breaking. "Now we have poured our lives into these houses."

On the time of the strike, President Trump had just lately been inaugurated, and Valentina Taran, a 65-year-old retiree who lived within the condominium complicated, was hopeful. She had grown disillusioned with the Biden administration's strategy to Ukraine, which she described as "serving to us simply sufficient to outlive however not way more." She stated she anticipated Trump to be extra decisive.

"I simply want he might cease this struggle," she stated, "however I do not know if he is aware of how."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6822x4548+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6c%2F0d%2F623cd6cd4b899dac4c366b91a7a6%2Fdsc03045-enhanced-nr.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6822x4548+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6c%2F0d%2F623cd6cd4b899dac4c366b91a7a6%2Fdsc03045-enhanced-nr.jpg" class="img" alt="Rescue team in front of damaged residential building in Sumy just after strike of Russian kamikaze drone Shahed on Jan. 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Emergency employees exterior an condominium complicated within the metropolis of Sumy that was hit in a Russian drone strike early this yr. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR An ally turns The morning after the strikes, the newsroom of Cukr, an area on-line journal centered on neighborhood information, was buzzing.

The title comes from a shortened model of the Ukrainian phrase for sugar. "Town was as soon as a major producer of sugar," stated Dmytro Tyshchenko, the outlet's editor. "That was a very long time in the past, however we just like the title."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2Fb6%2Fc8cb41b040ac88b4ab8569223598%2Fdsc04411-enhanced-nr.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2Fb6%2Fc8cb41b040ac88b4ab8569223598%2Fdsc04411-enhanced-nr.jpg" class="img" alt="Dmytro Tishchenko, 31, co-founder and CEO "CUKR.CITY media" in the editorial office on Jan 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> Dmytro Tyshchenko, co-founder and CEO of CUKR, an internet journal specializing in neighborhood information in Sumy, at his workplace earlier this yr. "We're right here to problem Russian propaganda and the fixed depressive scenario of struggle," he stated. CUKR misplaced greater than half of its funding after the Trump administration shut down USAID. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR Cukr tries to concentrate on upbeat information, Tyshchenko stated, including that "we wish to encourage folks to take satisfaction in our metropolis." The frequent Russian assaults, nevertheless, are sometimes on the entrance web page. When NPR visited the newsroom earlier this yr, the assault was the primary information on Cukr's homepage, together with a trending profile a couple of lady who makes socks for Ukraine's navy.

"We're right here to problem Russian propaganda and the fixed depressive scenario of struggle," Tyshchenko stated, as we walked into the newsroom. "We reside on this metropolis and we wish folks to understand it, and to know one another."

Inside, communications supervisor Anna Olshanska was pacing. The strike hit the neighborhood the place she grew up.

"My mother and father reside there, and so they're OK, thank God," she stated. "It was a really hectic morning."

The morning was additionally hectic for one more cause: The Trump administration had frozen U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement funds, together with cash that helped help Ukraine's impartial media. Till then, Cukr acquired 60% of its cash from USAID, in response to Tyshchenko.

"It is hitting small media like us the worst," he stated. "We do not have time to fret about it. We are attempting to be optimistic about surviving with out this assist."

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2F21%2F34110d8c43bf823bd800bbb7c19c%2Fdsc04493-enhanced-nr-2.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7008x4672+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Faa%2F21%2F34110d8c43bf823bd800bbb7c19c%2Fdsc04493-enhanced-nr-2.jpg" class="img" alt="Editor works in editorial office of the CUKR.CITY media on Jan 30, 2025." loading="lazy"/> A CUKR editor adjusts photographs on the net journal's web site earlier this yr. Anton Shtuka for NPR cover caption

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Anton Shtuka for NPR Russian assaults in Sumy continued as Ukraine instantly confronted an unreliable relationship with the U.S., as soon as its strongest particular person ally.

The Trump administration started dismantling USAID, an enormous blow to Ukraine, the company's high recipient as of 2023, the final yr by which information is on the market. Company funds did way more than subsidize impartial media. The cash supported Ukraine's farmers, veterans and tech employees, and likewise helped the nation restore its power grid, badly broken by Russian assaults.

Trump and his high aides additionally berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he visited the Oval Workplace on Feb. 28 and repeated Russian speaking factors. After that, the White Home abruptly minimize off navy help to Ukraine, in addition to intelligence sharing. The help cut-off lasted a couple of week, till talks between Ukraine and the U.S. in Saudi Arabia on March 11, when Ukraine agreed unconditionally to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to final 30 days.

Russia didn't signal on, nevertheless, and after that started escalating assaults on Ukrainian cities.

A bloody Sunday On April 13, Palm Sunday, 13-year-old Kyrylo Illiashenko was on a bus in downtown Sumy together with his mother, Maryna. They have been headed to his grandmother's home and after that he had wrestling follow.

He held his fitness center bag on his lap as his mother talked on the cellphone to his grandmother about Sunday lunch. Then the boy heard a wierd whistling sound.

"After which an explosion," he stated. "I used to be knocked down and felt damaged glass chopping me." The glass shards additionally sliced his mom's face. The bus full of black smoke.

A Russian ballistic missile had hit close by. Folks on the bus shouted for the motive force to open the door.

"However the driver was useless," Kyrylo stated.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8121x5414+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4b%2F7f%2F6a2056874ad28ea07cb2bd9a30d2%2Fap25104494844194.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8121x5414+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4b%2F7f%2F6a2056874ad28ea07cb2bd9a30d2%2Fap25104494844194.jpg" class="img" alt="Kyrylo Illiashenko, 13, sits on a hospital bed, Mon., 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." loading="lazy"/> Kyrylo Illiashenko, 13, was injured after a Russian missile struck the middle of Sumy, close to the bus he and his mom have been driving in April. He managed to rescue his mother and the opposite passengers. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP cover caption

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Evgeniy Maloletka/AP He could not discover his mother and apprehensive the bus would explode. A damaged window was the one exit. He hurled his fitness center bag by the window, then jumped by himself.

Exterior, he noticed our bodies on the road. He rushed again to the bus and compelled the door open. He pulled out the gasping passengers, together with his mother. Later, his eighth-grade classmates thanked him for saving their family members on that bus.

"You are a hero," they texted him.

Nadia Hryn, who runs Sumy's music conservatory, heard the city's philharmonic constructing had additionally been hit. She knew her buddy Olena Kohut, the philharmonic's organ soloist, was on her strategy to rehearsal there. Kohut additionally taught piano on the conservatory.

"I heard the primary explosion and known as Olena straight away," Hryn stated. "She did not reply."

Kohut's greatest buddy, Ella Mykhaylova, a violinist, known as her too, a number of instances, however could not get by. Then she received a name from the philharmonic's percussionist.

"He instructed me she had known as him after the primary explosion and stated there have been many individuals mendacity on the road," Mykhaylova stated. "She wished to assist them. Then there was a second explosion, so he ran to seek out her."

A second ballistic missile had hit, just some minutes after the primary. He discovered her on the bottom, not shifting. Emergency employees tried to resuscitate her for an hour earlier than giving up.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F48%2Fa0%2Fd02070b7414f9e779f0a5fc9c644%2Fgettyimages-2210026900.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x2688+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F48%2Fa0%2Fd02070b7414f9e779f0a5fc9c644%2Fgettyimages-2210026900.jpg" class="img" alt="Rescuers work at the site of Russian ballistic strike on April 13, 2025 in Sumy, Ukraine." loading="lazy"/> Emergency crews work on the web site of a Russian missile assault within the heart of Sumy this April. Eugene Abrasimov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/International Photographs Ukraine through Getty Photographs cover caption

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Eugene Abrasimov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC "UA:PBC"/International Photographs Ukraine through Getty Photographs She was amongst 35 folks killed that day. Greater than 100 have been injured.

Kohut's college students left bouquets wrapped in sheet music on the web site of the assaults.

The grieving mom Kohut's mom, Natalia Tsybulko, is a classically skilled singer who additionally teaches on the conservatory. She has returned to the classroom alone. Her daughter's absence haunts her.

"When she was a child, I took her to all my live shows," Tsybulko stated. "When she grew up and fell in love with the piano, she accompanied me after I sang."

As she listened to a pupil sing Italian arias – her daughter's favourite – she struggled to compose herself. After class, Tsybulko sat within the again, scrolling by her cellphone to seek out movies of her daughter's organ performances.

"When she sat all the way down to play that organ, she made it sing like a voice," Tsybulko stated, her voice hoarse.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff3%2F0c%2F94bde1694abba2f70a3210ab156f%2Fnatalia-and-nadia-hugging.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2250+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff3%2F0c%2F94bde1694abba2f70a3210ab156f%2Fnatalia-and-nadia-hugging.jpg" class="img" alt="Classical voice teacher Natalia Tsylbulko embraces Nadia Hryn, who runs Sumy's music conservatory. Tsybulko's daughter Olena Kohut, killed in a Russian missile attack in April, used to teach at the school along with her mother. “The horror and cruelty, we feel it every day,” Hryn said." loading="lazy"/> Classical voice trainer Natalia Tsylbulko embraces Nadia Hryn, who runs Sumy's music conservatory. Tsybulko's daughter Olena Kohut, killed in a Russian missile assault in April, used to show on the college alongside together with her mom. "The horror and cruelty, we really feel it day by day," Hryn stated. Joanna Kakissis/NPR cover caption

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Joanna Kakissis/NPR She wiped away tears and walked upstairs to fulfill Hryn, the conservatory director. In her workplace, Hryn set out cups of espresso spiced with pepper, cardamom and some drops of sturdy Slovak liquor. She sat subsequent to the grieving mom and stroked her hand.

"The horror and cruelty, we really feel it day by day," Hryn stated. "We inform one another, 'have a protected day, a protected evening, a quiet evening'. After which we go to funerals. The whole lot is fragile."

Kohut's household and mates held a memorial live performance for her on Could 21 in a candlelit corridor. The live performance opened with a billboard-size display screen exhibiting a video of Kohut in a black, glittery full-length robe, taking part in "Chariots of Hearth" by Vangelis. A efficiency by Kohut's college students and the philharmonic orchestra adopted.