Russian missile strike on bus in Kramatorsk kills at least 30 civilians

A Russian aerial bomb hit a bus in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 others, according to officials. The strike, which occurred at around 10am on Yuvileina Street near a dental clinic, is one of the deadliest single attacks on Ukrainian civilians this year. Police images showed bodies strewn across the street, debris, and the charred shell of the bus, while a second bus caught fire. All local public transport has been suspended.

The Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office confirmed the casualty figures, stating: “As of now, the death toll from this morning’s attack has risen to 30. Eighteen people were wounded.” The city of Kramatorsk is one of the last major urban centres in northern Donetsk under full Ukrainian control, part of a “fortress belt” that also includes Sloviansk. Russian forces have attempted to capture these cities for more than a decade.

Zelenskyy condemns deliberate targeting of civilians

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kremlin had deliberately targeted an “ordinary public transport stop” as part of a “brutal” campaign. He urged Western allies to take “concrete steps” to bolster Ukraine’s depleted air defences. In a social media post, he stressed that supplies of anti-ballistic capabilities and ammunition for combat aircraft directly help save lives.

Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said the Russians were deliberately targeting civilians, noting that a bus full of passengers was an attractive target because a single strike could kill as many as possible. He said Russia deliberately flouts every rule of warfare and selects targets to inflict the greatest suffering on civilians, adding: “Russia comes to Ukrainian land with death.” The attack came a day after a Russian strike on a five-storey apartment block in Pryluky, Chernihiv region, killed at least 22 people, including five children aged 1 to 8. Recent weeks have seen a round-the-clock Russian onslaught with ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones. Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are home to thousands of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers, and roads in the area have been festooned with nets to protect traffic from drones, though they offer little protection against aerial bombs.