by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – At least 33 people have been killed and 18 others wounded in a Russian glide bomb attack near two passenger buses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, authorities said Thursday, as escalating Russian strikes claim growing numbers of civilian lives.
The attack struck a street where two passenger buses were operating, according to Ukrainian authorities. Images released by local prosecutors showed bodies on the road, scattered debris, and the burned-out remains of a bus.
Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting passengers to inflict maximum civilian casualties.
Moscow had not commented on the attack but has repeatedly denied intentionally targeting civilians.
The tragedy came a day after a Russian missile devastated a five-story apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, killing 22 people, including five children, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
CHILDREN KILLED
Rescue workers pulled 15 survivors from the rubble in Pryluky, including a child, while 54 people were wounded, seven of them children.
The destruction left families facing the loss of loved ones and homes as emergency crews searched through the wreckage of the residential building.
In Kramatorsk and neighboring Slovyansk, authorities suspended public transportation amid fears of further attacks, leaving residents with fewer options to travel to work, buy food, or reach medical care.
Filashkin urged those still living in the frontline Donetsk region to evacuate to safer areas, saying authorities could no longer guarantee the safety of passengers and drivers.
The two cities form part of Ukraine’s heavily defended eastern industrial region of Donbas, which Moscow is seeking to capture as Russian forces press their offensive.
CIVILIANS UNDER FIRE
Elsewhere, Russian attacks killed civilians in the capital, Kyiv, on Thursday, while strikes on energy infrastructure disrupted electricity supplies and raised concerns about further outages as winter approaches.
The attacks have forced schoolchildren into shelters, interrupted businesses, and left families facing repeated air raid warnings more than four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed condolences to grieving families and urged Western allies to provide additional air defenses to protect civilians.
Russia maintains that its military operations target legitimate military objectives, although its missiles, drones, and powerful glide bombs have repeatedly struck residential buildings and other civilian areas.
For families in Kramatorsk and Pryluky, however, the latest violence underscored how even the most ordinary moments of life — boarding a bus, attending school, or sleeping at home — can suddenly become a matter of life and death.
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