Russian Bomb Kills 33 After Strike on Buses in Ukraine

A Russian bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed at least 33 people and wounded 18 on Thursday, authorities reported. They described the incident as a targeted strike on civilians in the key stronghold sought by Moscow.

The attack occurred on a street where police said two city buses were operating at the time. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the location as a bus stop. Images posted by police showed bodies strewn across debris-littered streets, with a charred bus visible.

"For them (the Russians), a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because one strike can kill as many people as possible," regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram app. Moscow has not immediately commented on the attack. Russia denies targeting civilians, though it has regularly struck Ukrainian cities during its full-scale invasion that began in February 2022.

Local officials stated that Russian forces have intensified drone and guided-bomb strikes on Kramatorsk and other cities in Ukraine’s "fortress belt," which forms the backbone of its defenses in the Donetsk region. Russia has demanded Ukraine cede the rest of the region still under its control before ceasing hostilities, a demand Kyiv rejects. The pace of Moscow's battlefield gains in the region has significantly slowed this year.

Filashkin announced that he had ordered city authorities in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, another key city in the defense line, to halt public transport, citing the need to protect citizens' lives.

The Thursday attack followed a day after dozens were killed in a large-scale Russian air assault across Ukraine, primarily targeting the country's power grid. Separately on Thursday, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that three people were killed and 14 wounded in morning drone strikes on the capital, Kyiv. Russian forces have frequently targeted Kyiv amid a shortage of Ukrainian air defenses.