KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE — A Russian guided bomb struck beside public buses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday morning, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office said the attack hit at about 10 a.m. near a public-transport stop on Yuvileina Street. Two buses caught fire, and authorities suspended local public transit after the blast.

Rescue work hampered by later drone attacks

Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of Kramatorsk’s military administration, said subsequent small-drone attacks complicated the rescue operation. Officials said some victims had not yet been identified and warned that the toll could rise.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but its forces regularly strike Ukrainian cities with missiles, drones and guided bombs. Independent news organizations could not verify the intent behind Thursday’s strike.

More than 70 reported killed in two days

The Kramatorsk attack followed a large Russian strike on October 7 that killed 22 people, including five children, in an apartment building in Pryluky. Reuters reported that Zelenskyy said Russian attacks had killed 78 people and wounded 215 across Ukraine over two days.

Kyiv also faced renewed attacks and emergency power outages. Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia is increasing pressure on the country’s energy system as winter approaches.

Air-defence appeals have a Canadian connection

Zelenskyy appealed for more air-defence systems, aircraft ammunition and interceptor investment from NATO partners. Canada says it has committed more than $8.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since 2022, including support for air defence and $2 billion in military assistance for the 2026–27 fiscal year.

The latest civilian deaths therefore add urgency to decisions by Canada and other allies about the pace and type of defensive support they provide. They do not establish that any particular Canadian contribution could have prevented this strike.

Sources: The Associated Press, October 8; Reuters, updated October 8; Office of the President of Ukraine, October 8; Canada’s Department of National Defence, February 24.

Representative photograph of a Kramatorsk trolleybus by Konstantin Brizhnichenko via Wikimedia Commons, November 7, 2014, CC BY-SA 4.0; not a photograph of Thursday’s strike or either bus involved.