Donald Trump described Russia’s double ballistic missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed 35 and wounded 117 as a “mistake” by the Russians.

But it’s no such thing.

The Sunday attack on Sumy, like the April 4 strike on Kryvyi Rih, where a Russian ballistic missile filled with cluster munitions killed 20 people and wounded 80, is actually part of a Russian military strategy. The aim is to terrorize the civilian population and turn them against the Ukrainian military and government, forcing them to sue for peace with Moscow.