Thirty people were killed and at least 18 others injured following Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine that included a direct attack on a public bus. Authorities reported the incident on Thursday amid an intense pre-winter wave of bombardments that has also caused worsening power outages in the capital city of Kyiv. Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional military administration, announced that public transport across Kramatorsk and the neighboring city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region had been suspended due to rapidly deteriorating security conditions. Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, noting that authorities could not risk the lives of passengers and drivers under such circumstances. These violent strikes followed a deadly missile attack a day earlier in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky, where the death toll climbed to 22, including five children. Emergency crews and rescue dogs continued sifting through the heavy rubble of a destroyed residential building where at least 54 people sustained injuries. Some survivors of the Pryluky strike were forced to sleep in severely damaged apartments after failing to find alternative shelter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow will likely intensify daily missile and drone operations as colder weather approaches, renewing his appeals for additional defense assistance from NATO allies. He emphasized that verbal support must translate into concrete packages featuring anti-ballistic systems, combat aircraft ammunition, and interceptor investments. Meanwhile, Ukrainian energy company DTEK reported that national grid operator Ukrenergo mandated emergency power cuts in Kyiv, separate from routine rolling blackouts. A renewed public awareness campaign has urged households to prepare emergency kits, store drinking water, and secure off-grid power solutions ahead of expected long-term winter blackouts. Kyiv police additionally noted that bomb disposal experts neutralized two unexploded ballistic missile warheads near residential zones, while late-night drone strikes in the Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts killed four people and injured 12, including four children. More than four and a half years after the full-scale invasion, both nations remain locked in a long-range aerial campaign while front-line positions stay largely deadlocked. In Russia, technology conglomerate Yandex stated that a data center in the western Ryazan region suffered damage from a Ukrainian drone strike, knocking the facility offline and causing potential online disruptions. Separately, Ukrainian military officials claimed their forces hit a major oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Salavat, located approximately 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow, though this claim could not be independently verified.
Source: npr.org
