Russian Glide Bomb Hits Two Buses in Kramatorsk, Killing 33
Donetsk officials say a guided bomb struck two passenger buses at a Kramatorsk stop, prompting a halt to public transport in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — A Russian guided aerial bomb struck two passenger buses in the frontline city of Kramatorsk on the morning of October 8, killing 33 people and wounding 18, according to Ukrainian rescue officials and Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin, as reported by the BBC.
The Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office said the attack came at 10:00 local time (3:00 AM ET). Its first count listed 12 dead, a figure that rose sharply as rescuers worked the scene. Ukraine’s National Police said the weapon was a glide bomb.
What officials said
Both buses were carrying passengers and caught fire, rescue officials said. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had hit “an ordinary public transport stop” with an aerial bomb, according to NBC News.
Filashkin accused Russia of targeting the buses to kill as many civilians as possible. He ordered public transport halted in Kramatorsk and neighboring Sloviansk, citing a sharp deterioration in security. “We have no right to risk the lives of passengers and drivers,” he said, according to the BBC. He also urged anyone still living in Donetsk region to move to safer parts of Ukraine.
Kramatorsk City Council called the strike “yet another horrific crime committed by the Russian army against the civilian population.” It added: “Once again, the Russians have struck a location where there are absolutely no military targets.”
Moscow had not commented on the attack, the BBC reported.
A city close to the front
Kramatorsk is one of the key Donetsk cities Russia has not captured. With Sloviansk, it forms part of the so-called fortress belt that Russian forces are trying to seize as part of the Kremlin’s claim to the whole Donbas region, the BBC said. For much of the war the city served as a logistics and supply hub for the Ukrainian military, and Russian troops have now edged close to its eastern outskirts, France 24 reported.
Glide bombs are conventional bombs fitted with wings that let them glide toward a target after release from an aircraft. Russia has used them repeatedly against Kramatorsk and Sloviansk; in late August, as many as nine struck Kramatorsk in a single day, according to the BBC.
A deadly week for civilians
The bus strike came one day after a Russian missile destroyed a five-story apartment block in Pryluky, in the Chernihiv region. The death toll there has risen to 22, including five children, the BBC reported. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russian attacks on the capital on October 8 killed three more people.
According to the UN, more civilians were killed in Ukraine by August of this year than in all of 2025, the BBC reported. Zelensky offered condolences to the victims’ families and called on Ukraine’s partners to provide “concrete action through new defence packages for the protection of Ukraine.”
What it means
Analysis: The attack shows how exposed civilians in the government-held part of Donetsk have become as the front line moves closer. Halting buses removes a basic service for residents who remain in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and the governor’s renewed evacuation appeal signals that local officials expect the strikes to continue. Interceptor missiles are in short supply worldwide, the BBC noted, which leaves Ukraine with limited means to stop such attacks.
Sources
- BBC: Russian strike on buses kills 33, say officials
- France 24: Dozens killed in Russian strike on buses in Kramatorsk
- NBC News: At least 30 feared killed in Russian bus bombing in Ukraine
Additional sources
- Ukrainska Pravda: Russian strike on buses in Kramatorsk kills 30 and injures 18: full prosecutor’s office statement and its interim count of 30 dead
