Russians shelled Sumy: Iskander and Shahed missiles almost completely destroyed the state university
On the night of August 18, Sumy became the target of one of the most massive attacks by the Russian Federation in recent times. The Russian army struck the city with an Iskander-M ballistic missile and seven Geran-2 kamikaze drones. Sumy State University suffered the most – buildings were destroyed, hundreds of windows were broken, and scientific equipment was destroyed.
This is reported by ” Suspilne “.
It is noted that on the evening of August 17, at about 10:40 p.m., Sumy was shaken by a powerful explosion. According to Gennady Demyanenko, the first deputy head of the Sumy city military administration, the city was hit by an Iskander-M ballistic missile. The explosion created a three-meter crater in front of the central building of Sumy State University.
The facade was also damaged and hundreds of windows in the educational buildings were broken.
At the same time, several nearby buildings were damaged.
University security guard Anatoliy Baranovsky said he suffered minor injuries from glass when the shock wave shattered the glass door. According to him, the explosion was so powerful that it immediately destroyed a significant part of the facade.
The shock wave also affected the city’s municipal utility company – more than 100 windows were broken and several units of rolling stock were damaged.
After the third night, Sumy was again under attack – this time the enemy launched at least seven Geran-2 kamikaze drones. Again, the university buildings were hit. The fire engulfed the library building and other premises, and rescuers were forced to interrupt extinguishing the fires due to the threat of repeated strikes. Inside, classrooms and laboratories burned out, and equipment was flooded with water.
Anatoliy Chornous, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work of Sumy State University, reported that employees are trying to save the surviving expensive scientific equipment. In particular, we are talking about microscopes, electrodes, and microanalyzers purchased with grant funds since 2018.
In addition to the university, civilian infrastructure in the city was damaged. Four drones hit a non-residential building, causing a fire, and in two five-story buildings nearby, the blast wave broke out windows and damaged balconies. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
It is worth adding that this is not the first time that Sumy State University has been targeted by Russian strikes. On September 3, 2024, the occupiers also attacked the academic building, and in April 2025, the city was hit twice by ballistic missiles, killing 35 people.
The head of the regional military administration, Oleg Grigorov, confirmed that there were no victims as a result of the latest attack, but the police have opened criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – “war crimes.”
By the way, on the night of August 18 , Russian occupiers launched a drone strike on the oil terminals of the state-owned Azerbaijani company SOCAR . A large-scale fire broke out at the site of the strike.
It was previously reported that Russian occupiers launched ballistic missile strikes on Zaporizhia . 17 casualties and destruction are known.
In total, the Russian occupiers attacked Ukraine with 4 ballistic missiles and 140 drones , and the air defense neutralized 88 drones.
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