At least 33 people were killed Thursday morning in a Russian bomb attack on a busy bus stop in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, authorities said.
Two city buses were operating near the bus stop in the war-torn city sought by Moscow when the bomb struck.
The attack – which also injured 18 people – prompted authorities to suspend public transport in the area.
“There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians,” said Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city’s military administration, adding that rescue efforts had been hampered by subsequent Russian attacks using small drones.
Harrowing photos released by police showed bodies and debris strewn across the roadway, as well as the shell of a bus on fire in the aftermath of the attack.
Moscow had no immediate comment on the attack and often denies targeting civilians, although it has repeatedly decimated Ukrainian towns and other targets since the outbreak of war in February 2022.
“For them (Russians), a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because a single strike can kill as many people as possible,” regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
Russian forces have stepped up drone attacks and guided bomb strikes on Kramatorsk and other towns in Ukraine’s “fortress belt” in the Donetsk region.
Three people were killed and 14 people were also injured in separate drone strikes Thursday morning in kyiv, according to Mayor Vitali Rlitschko.
The bus stop bombing came just a day after at least 22 people, including five children, died in a Russian airstrike in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, targeting the country’s power grid, Ukraine’s emergency service said.
Wednesday’s strike also injured 54 people, including seven children, forcing rescuers to pull survivors from the rubble, the agency said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Pryluky on Thursday, amid a series of strikes, to meet visiting British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who announced new sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky called for additional military support from NATO countries – sounding the alarm that Moscow would likely step up its missile and drone attacks as winter approaches.
“It is important that verbal support translates into Ukraine’s new defense programs,” he wrote in an online message. “Provisions of anti-ballistic capabilities, ammunition for our fighter jets and investments in interceptors: all of this directly contributes to saving lives every day. »
With post wires
Gn headline
