It also comes at an inauspicious time for the Trump administration, which deployed its top negotiator, U.S. Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, to hold his third round of face-to-face talks with Putin approximately 48 hours before the strike.

The missile attack on Sumy on April 13 served as a grim reminder of the deadly cost of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — and highlighted how little progress Trump has made in ending a war he once claimed he could stop quickly.

President Donald Trump reacted to a Russian attack that killed 34 people in the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday, saying he was told Russia "made a mistake"