A Russian strike hit two passenger buses in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on the morning of October 8, killing 33 people, Ukrainian officials said. Another 18 people were injured in the city, which lies in the Donetsk region.

The Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced the latest death toll. Earlier updates put the number killed at 12 and then 30. Officials said checks on the number of dead and injured were continuing.

Two buses hit while carrying passengers

The buses were carrying civilians travelling through the city. A Greek news outlet reported that both vehicles were full of passengers and moving along the same road when the strike hit.

Ukrainian police said the attack struck two buses in service and an apartment building on a city street. Initial findings suggested a guided aerial bomb was used, but the precise weapon remains unconfirmed.

Reports described the weapon as a glide bomb. The circumstances of the strike are being examined as part of the prosecutors’ preliminary investigation.

Public transport suspended in two cities

Authorities suspended public transport in Kramatorsk and neighbouring Slovyansk after the attack. Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional administration, said the decision followed a sharp deterioration in security.

Filashkin urged residents still in the Donetsk region to move to safer parts of Ukraine. He said authorities could not risk the lives of passengers and drivers by continuing transport services.

Kramatorsk has served as a logistics and supply centre for Ukraine’s military. The city has come under almost daily Russian attack, according to a report by a Ghanaian news outlet.

Prosecutors open war crime investigation

Ukrainian prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the attack as a war crime. Filashkin accused Russia of targeting civilians. Kramatorsk City Council separately said there were no military targets at the location of the strike.

Moscow had not commented on the attack by the time of the reports. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky offered condolences to the victims’ families and called on Ukraine’s partners to provide new defence packages to protect the country.

Kramatorsk declared October 9 a day of mourning after the attack, a Turkish news outlet reported.