‘I saw cars on fire. People were lying at my feet’: Ukrainian survivors describe Russia’s attack on Sumy

Alla Shyrshonkova was one of 129 people wounded in the Russian attack last weekend. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The Observer

Last weekend, Alla Shyrshonkova got on the 62 bus on a journey to her cottage near the Ukrainian city of Sumy. It was a warm spring day. “I thought I’d sit with friends, have some tea. Birds were singing. The weather was beautiful. It was so nice,” she recalled.

“The bus was packed. There wasn’t a single free seat. People were standing. Some were going to church for Palm Sunday. There were families with children.”