Death toll from Russian bus strike in eastern Ukraine rises to 33: authorities

Thirty-three people were killed on Thursday when Russia struck two passenger buses in Kramatorsk, near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said.

They called it the deadliest single attack of 2026 so far.

Authorities said three people were also killed in the village of Bilenke, part of the Kramatorsk community.

Another 18 people were wounded, said Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin, accusing Russia of targeting buses carrying passengers to kill as many civilians as possibe, CNN reported.

Death toll, timing, and weapon

• The Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office first reported 30 dead, then later updates from rescue services and some outlets raised the toll to at least 33, calling it the deadliest single attack of 2026 so far.

• The strike hit around 10 am local time on a street where two city buses were operating; Ukrainian police and the governor’s office said it was carried out with a guided/glide bomb dropped from aircraft on the Russian side of the front line.

• The bomb ignited both buses and caused fires in the surrounding area; emergency crews worked to extinguish the blaze and pull survivors from the wreckage.

Official reactions and measures

• Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians to maximize casualties and ordered an immediate suspension of public transport in Kramatorsk and nearby Sloviansk, urging residents to relocate to safer areas.

• Ukraine’s national police opened a preliminary war-crimes investigation into the attack and released graphic images showing charred bus remains and debris scattered across the road.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the strike as hitting “an ordinary public transport stop” and condemned it as a deliberate attack on civilians.

• There was no immediate comment from Moscow; Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians despite widespread documentation of strikes on residential and urban areas.

Transport under fire

• The Kramatorsk attack fits a broader pattern this year in which Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukraine’s transport network — buses, trains, and ports—using glide bombs and missiles to paralyze movement and endanger civilians, according to regional reporting.

• Kramatorsk, about 20 km (12 miles) from the active frontline in Donetsk, is a key Ukrainian-held stronghold in the Donbas that Moscow has long sought to capture.