Russian terror in the Easter week. Good Friday in Kharkiv through the lens of Georgiy Ivanchenko

Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter - this week's religious holidays for Ukrainians turned into days of mourning as Russia targeted residential areas, schools, kindergartens, markets and playgrounds. Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa - all of these cities suffered from Russian shelling on the eve of the holidays and during the holidays. 35 dead in Sumy, over 120 injured in Kharkiv, dozens of wounded children. It was another week of terror: from April 14 to April 20, 2025, the Russian army continued its terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities. Russia targeted residential areas, educational and cultural institutions, despite the approach of religious holidays.

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Sumy. The deadliest attack in recent months

On Palm Sunday, April 13, Russia struck the center of Sumy with two ballistic missiles. Thirty-five people were killed, including two children - an 11-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy. Another 117 people were injured, 15 of them children. People were injured on the street, in cars, in public transport, and in their own homes.

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This is one of the bloodiest attacks by Russia in recent times. On Monday, April 14, rescue operations were still underway in the city, and the victims were buried throughout the week.

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Massive attacks with drones and missiles

On the night of April 15 , Russia attacked Ukraine with an Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missile and 52 Shahed kamikaze drones, as well as imitation drones. Sumy and Donetsk regions came under attack.

On the evening of April 16 , Dnipro was hit by drones. Fires broke out, and residential buildings, educational and cultural institutions, and cars were damaged. Two people died - a young girl and an elderly woman. Sixteen people were injured, including a nine-month-old girl and boys aged 6 and 11.

The next night, on April 17, Russia attacked Ukraine with two Iskander-Ms, three S-300/400 guided missiles, and 75 kamikaze drones. Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipro regions were affected.

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The attack before Easter

On Good Friday, April 18, Russians fired three Iskander cluster missiles at the Osnovianskyi district of Kharkiv. One of the missiles exploded over a residential area. In total, up to 120 people were injured in the attack.

Before Easter, on Saturday, April 19, Russia attacked Ukraine with 95 drones and missiles. The hostile attack affected Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Donetsk regions and Zaporizhzhia.

On the night of April 21, Russia launched missiles and drones at Ukraine. Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Cherkasy regions suffered as a result of the attack. The “Easter truce” declared by the Kremlin ended at 00:00, so after midnight, the aggressor country continued to terrorize civilians and strike at infrastructure. Throughout the day on April 20, no air raids were sounded in Ukraine. However, at night, the enemy resumed shelling. Russia did not support the proposal of Ukraine and the United States to extend the ceasefire for 30 days.

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Good Friday for Kharkiv. Tragedy in the lens of Heorhiy Ivanchenko

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On Friday, April 18, at 05:10 a.m., Russia struck the Osnovianskyi district of Kharkiv with three Iskander cluster missiles . One of the missiles exploded right over a residential neighborhood.

According to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, up to 120 people were injured in the attack. Mayor Igor Terekhov clarified:

"The damage area is kilometers square. All the windows were smashed in the first location in the neighborhood. Twenty-one apartment buildings, two schools, two kindergartens and a children's art center were damaged. At the second location, a factory workshop was on fire. The debris and blast wave hit more than 40 private households."

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The head of the Kharkiv police investigation department, Serhiy Bolvinov, said that Russia used a 9M727 cruise missile with a high-explosive warhead, an analog of the US Tomahawk.

"Three million dollars to destroy a high-rise building and injure people. The Russians fired a cruise missile with a high-explosive warhead from the Iskander complex at a residential area in Kharkiv, it exploded in mid-air over a playground, a few meters from a 16-story building. If the missile had hit the house accurately, it would have simply collapsed completely, it is a very powerful weapon. Our explosive experts have already established that it was a 9M727 missile, an analog of the American Tomahawk. It can fly low over the ground, avoiding air defense. In addition, it is maneuverable and equipped with stealth technology, which makes it invisible to radar. This is exactly the kind of weapon that Russians use against ordinary residential buildings early in the morning when people are still sleeping ,” Bolvinov wrote.

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After the missile strike, 18 wounded, including four children, were treated in Kharkiv hospitals. According to Sinegubov, three of them are in moderate condition: a 5-year-old boy, a 15-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. Another 9-year-old child is in satisfactory condition and will be discharged soon. Two adults are in serious condition. Also among the wounded are two elderly people in moderate condition, the rest are in satisfactory condition.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the attack the same day: “This is how Russia began this Good Friday - with ballistics, cruise missiles, ‘shaheds’ - mockery of our people and cities.”

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Heorhiy Ivanchenko's photographs show everything that remained after the strike: victims, destroyed facades, broken windows, burning buildings, and mangled yards. The camera became a witness and a memory of what happened at dawn.

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We worked on the material:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Editorial director: Olga Kovaleva
Literary editor: Yulia Futey
Website manager: Vladyslav Kukhar