Russian Bomb Strike on Kramatorsk Bus Stop Kills at Least 33 People

At least 33 people have been killed and 18 others wounded after a Russian strike hit a bus stop in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, according to local authorities and police. The attack, which occurred on Thursday, involved a glide bomb that struck a street where two passenger buses were operating. Images shared by Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets depicted the burned-out shell of a bus and several bodies lying on the ground.

The Kramatorsk City Council condemned the strike, characterizing it as a crime against civilians and stating that no military targets were present at the location. Local officials noted that Russian forces have intensified drone and guided-bomb attacks on Kramatorsk and other cities within the Donetsk region's defensive belt. Russia has maintained demands that Ukraine relinquish the remaining areas of the Donetsk region under its control as a condition to cease fighting, a requirement Kyiv continues to reject.

Escalating Attacks and Diplomatic Pressure

The bombardment in Kramatorsk follows an attack the previous day in Pryluky, located in the northern Chernigiv region, where a Russian missile struck a five-storey residential building. Search and rescue operations were launched after 22 people, including five children, were killed in the apartment block. According to the United Nations, more than 17,000 civilian deaths have been verified since the conflict began in 2022, though the actual figure is believed to be substantially higher.

Following the strike in Kramatorsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian negotiators are traveling to the United States for scheduled talks on Friday and Saturday. President Zelenskyy urged US President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Moscow, stating that economic discussions with Russia cannot occur simultaneously while claiming the situation is in a diplomatic stalemate.

Drone Strike Hits Russian Data Hub

In a separate development on Thursday, Russian technology firm Yandex reported that a drone attack struck its Sasovo data centre, marking the first major strike on a Russian data hub since the war started. The facility, which houses tens of thousands of servers, suffered a fire that forced a temporary suspension of operations at the site. The company confirmed its core consumer services remained unaffected and did not elaborate on the full extent of the physical damage. The incident follows a series of Russian strikes targeting Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure and data centres, including locations in central Kyiv, over the past month.