At least 33 people have been killed and 18 wounded in a Russian bomb attack on Kramatorsk, authorities said, in one of the largest single strikes on Ukraine this year.
The blast hit a street in the eastern Ukrainian city where police said two buses were operating. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the location as a bus stop.
Images released by Ukraine’s national police showed bodies amid debris and the burnt-out remains of what appeared to be a bus.
Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor, accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilians. “For them (the Russians), a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because one strike can kill as many people as possible,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Russia denies targeting civilians, although its forces have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian cities, towns and other targets since launching their full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kramatorsk is one of the key cities in Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt in the Donetsk region. Local officials say Russian forces have increased drone and guided-bomb attacks on Kramatorsk and other cities in the area.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine surrender the remainder of Donetsk still under Kyiv’s control before it stops fighting. Ukraine has rejected the demand, while Moscow’s advance in the region has slowed significantly this year.
Mr Filashkin said he had ordered authorities in Kramatorsk and nearby Sloviansk to suspend public transport. “We have no right to risk” citizens’ lives, he said.
The attack followed a day after a major Russian air assault across Ukraine, which primarily targeted the country’s power grid. Separately, three people were killed and 14 wounded in morning drone strikes on Kyiv, according to the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
