Russian strike on buses kills at least 30, say officials, as deadly attacks on Ukraine surge

At least 30 people have been killed after a Russian strike hit two passenger buses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, local authorities said on Thursday.

Another 18 people were wounded in the morning attack, according to Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration.

Filashkin said the strike happened around 10:00 a.m. along Yuvileina Street, a busy urban road close to a dental clinic. The two buses were carrying civilian passengers at the time.

Images released by the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office and police showed the burnt-out shell of a bus, scattered debris, and bodies lying on the roadway. A second bus was also seen on fire.

Authorities said the vehicles were believed to have been hit by a guided aerial bomb. Moscow has not yet commented on the incident.

“This is not the consequence of war, nor dry statistics. These are people killed by the Russian army,” Filashkin said on Telegram, accusing Russian forces of deliberately targeting a crowded civilian vehicle to inflict maximum casualties.

Following the attack, all public transport services in Kramatorsk and neighbouring Sloviansk were suspended. Filashkin said the decision was necessary as the safety of passengers and drivers could not be guaranteed.

Kramatorsk city council described the strike as “another horrific crime,” stressing that there was “absolutely no military target” at the location.

Kramatorsk, which had a pre-war population of about 150,000, sits about 20 kilometres from the frontline and forms part of Ukraine’s so called fortress belt in Donetsk that Russia is seeking to capture.

The bus attack comes amid a sharp rise in civilian casualties across Ukraine.

According to the UN, more civilians were killed in Ukraine by August this year than in the whole of 2025.

On Wednesday, 22 people, including five children, were killed when a five storey residential block was destroyed in Pryluky, east of Kyiv. Officials said at least 60 people have now been killed in Russian attacks in the past 48 hours alone.