Russian glide bomb kills more than 30 on buses in Kramatorsk

A Russian strike on two passenger buses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has killed more than 30 people and wounded 18, local authorities say, in what they described as the deadliest single attack in Ukraine this year.

The local prosecutor's office posted photographs of bodies and debris across a road in front of the burning shell of a bus. Police said the two city buses were hit by a glide bomb on Thursday 8 October. Later reports put the death toll at 33.

"This strike will not go unanswered"

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the bomb hit a bus stop. "This strike will not go unanswered. Russia is attempting to destroy all life in Donbas, and the world must respond firmly," he said.

Vadym Filashkin, the governor of the Donetsk region, accused Russia of "deliberately targeting civilians". "For them, a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because one strike can kill as many people as possible," he said. He ordered public transport in Kramatorsk and nearby Sloviansk to be halted.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Russia denies targeting civilians.

What is a glide bomb?

Glide bombs are large bombs fitted with wings and guidance kits, dropped from aircraft that stay well back from the front line. They are less precise than ballistic missiles or drones, but carry heavy explosive loads, and Russia has used them widely against Ukrainian cities near the front.

A city near the front

Kramatorsk, about 15km from the front line, is one of the largest cities in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine. It has served as a logistics and supply hub for the Ukrainian military, and forms part of the so-called "fortress belt" that troops are fighting to hold. Russian forces have edged closer to the city's eastern edge, and civilians have been urged to leave.

Later the same day, a drone strike on a car in Kramatorsk killed two more people, and three people were killed in the neighbouring settlement of Bilenke.

Attacks across Ukraine

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a block of flats in Pryluky, in the northern Chernihiv region, on Wednesday rose to 22, including five children. In Kyiv, the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said four people were killed and 19 injured in attacks on Thursday, which he said were "tearing Kyiv apart", hitting bridges, the railway and the energy grid.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone caused a fire at a data centre belonging to the technology company Yandex in the Ryazan region, south-east of Moscow. Both sides have stepped up long-range strikes in recent months.

The wider war

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and claims the Donetsk region as part of Russia. More than four and a half years on, there is no sign of an end to the fighting, and the UK continues to provide military and humanitarian support to Ukraine alongside its allies.