More than 30 people have been killed after a Russian glide bomb struck two civilian buses in Kramatorsk, a frontline city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, according to rescue officials.
Donetsk regional head Vadym Filashkin said another three people were killed in the nearby village of Bilenke, while 18 others were wounded.
Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting passenger buses, saying the attack was aimed at causing mass civilian casualties. Local authorities described the incident as a strike on civilians and said public transport in Kramatorsk and neighbouring Slovyansk had been suspended over security concerns.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and warned that it would receive a response.
“This strike will not go without our response,” Zelensky said, calling for stronger international action against Russia.
Images released by local prosecutors showed the burned remains of a bus and debris scattered across the road.
Russia has not publicly commented on the latest attack.
The strike comes amid a sharp increase in Russian attacks across Ukraine. The United Nations has reported that more civilians have been killed in Ukraine so far this year than during the whole of 2025.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Russian strike destroyed a five-storey residential building in Pryluky, east of Kyiv, killing 22 people, including five children.
Visiting Kyiv on Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the attack and announced further sanctions targeting Russia’s war machine, including its shadow fleet, oil companies and cryptocurrency financing.
Kramatorsk and Slovyansk form part of a fortified area in Donetsk that Russia is seeking to capture as part of its broader campaign to seize the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in the Donbas.
Kramatorsk has served as an important logistics centre for Ukrainian forces during the war but has faced increasingly frequent Russian attacks as fighting has moved closer to the city.
Glide bombs, which are fitted with wings that allow them to travel towards targets after being released, have been used repeatedly against Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
Meanwhile, Russian attacks continued in Kyiv, where Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were killed and 14 injured on Thursday.
The attacks have disrupted schools, businesses and public transport, while damage to energy infrastructure has contributed to power cuts and affected water supplies in parts of the capital.
Zelensky urged Ukraine’s international partners to provide additional air-defence systems and other military support, as both Russia and Ukraine continue to intensify long-range strikes against targets across each other’s territory.
