Key facts
- 33 people were killed and 18 wounded in a Russian glide bomb attack on two civilian buses in Kramatorsk.
- Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin accused Russia of targeting civilians.
- The attack occurred amid a surge in Russian air raids and civilian casualties across Ukraine.
- In a separate incident, 22 people were killed in an attack on a block of flats in Pryluky.
- President Zelensky called for "concrete action" and new defense packages from Ukraine's partners.
- Glide bombs, fitted with winglets to guide them to their target, have been increasingly used in attacks on Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
Thirty-three people were killed and 18 wounded in a Russian glide bomb attack on two civilian buses in the frontline city of Kramatorsk, according to rescue officials. Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting a bus carrying passengers to maximize civilian casualties.
Images posted by local prosecutors showed the burnt-out shell of a bus and debris on the road. Kramatorsk and nearby Slovyansk are key targets for Russia as it seeks to seize the entire Ukrainian industrial region of Donbas.
Thursday's attack follows a significant increase in Russian assaults across Ukraine, leading to a sharp rise in civilian deaths. The UN reported that more civilians were killed in Ukraine by August this year than in all of 2025. In a separate incident early Wednesday, 22 people, including five children, were killed in an attack on a five-story apartment block in Pryluky, east of Kyiv.
Filashkin urged residents in the Donetsk region to relocate to safer areas and ordered a halt to all public transport in Kramatorsk and Slovyansk due to the deteriorating security situation. Moscow has not yet commented on the latest attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to the victims' families and reiterated calls for "concrete action" and new defense packages from Ukraine's international partners. This comes after Zelensky warned of intelligence suggesting plans for a major Russian offensive, prompting some families in Kyiv to seek shelter in metro stations. Ukraine faces challenges in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles due to global supply shortages.
Kramatorsk has served as a logistics and supply hub for the Ukrainian military and has been subjected to near-daily Russian attacks as Russian forces advance in the eastern part of the city. Glide bombs, equipped with winglets for guided flight, have been frequently used against Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, with nine such bombs reportedly fired at Kramatorsk in a single day in late August.