Kramatorsk bus strike kills 33 as public transport is stopped
Ukrainian authorities reported 33 deaths and 18 injuries after a Russian glide-bomb attack hit two buses in Kramatorsk on October 8. Kramatorsk and nearby Sloviansk suspended public transport as officials warned of worsening danger to passengers. Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of deliberately targeting civilians; Moscow did not immediately comment on the attack.
Geopolitics··Evening
Two buses were hit on a Kramatorsk street
A Russian attack hit two buses carrying passengers in Kramatorsk on the morning of October 8, Ukrainian authorities said. Ukraine’s emergency service put the death toll at 33, while Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin reported 18 injuries. The city is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Police said a glide bomb was used in the strike on the operating vehicles.[1], [2]
Fire broke out in at least two buses after the strike, according to the emergency service. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said doctors were still trying to save the lives of some of the injured. He warned that the death toll could increase and said two of those killed had not yet been identified because their injuries were so severe.[2]
Kramatorsk and Sloviansk suspend public transport
The military administrations in Kramatorsk and nearby Sloviansk ordered all public transport to stop. Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, including passengers in buses. The suspension follows the attack on vehicles already serving their routes, rather than on parked buses. It changes the immediate travel conditions for residents in two cities near the fighting in eastern Ukraine.[2]
Ukrainian officials have continued urging civilians in frontline areas to move to safer places. Kramatorsk is an important logistics hub for Ukrainian forces and belongs to a belt of fortified cities in Donetsk. The same city also carries ordinary civilian traffic, as the buses struck on October 8 illustrate. The city council said there were no military targets at the attack location.[1]
Ukraine alleges deliberate civilian targeting
Zelenskyy described the target as a bus stop and condemned the strike as Russian terror against civilians. Filashkin likewise alleged that civilians had been deliberately chosen as targets. These descriptions come from Ukrainian officials. Russia did not immediately comment on this particular attack and generally denies targeting civilians. The city council’s statement about the absence of military targets is also an official Ukrainian account.[1]
Russia claims the whole Donetsk region as its own territory, while Ukrainian forces continue to use Kramatorsk as a key eastern hub. After the bus attack, Zelenskyy called for an international response and said the strike would receive a response from Ukraine. The immediate measures reported in the affected cities were the suspension of public transport and continuing appeals for civilians to leave dangerous areas.[1], [2]
