Kyiv, October 9: At least 30 people were killed and 18 others injured in Russian strikes in eastern Ukraine, including an attack on a public bus, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday. The attacks came as Russia intensified its pre-winter assault, worsening electricity shortages in the capital, Kyiv.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, announced the suspension of public transport services in Kramatorsk and neighbouring Sloviansk due to the deteriorating security situation.
Accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, Filashkin said authorities could not risk the lives of passengers and drivers under the prevailing circumstances. He stressed that the safety of residents remained the highest priority.
The latest casualties follow deadly missile strikes a day earlier in Pryluky, northern Ukraine, where the death toll climbed to 22, including five children. At least 54 people were injured when a Russian missile struck a residential building.
Rescue teams continued searching through the damaged structure for missing residents, using specialised equipment and search dogs. Several survivors were reportedly forced to spend the night in badly damaged apartments after struggling to find alternative accommodation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia could intensify missile and drone attacks as winter approaches. He urged NATO countries and other international partners to provide additional military assistance, including air-defence capabilities, ammunition for combat aircraft and interceptor systems.
Zelenskyy emphasised that international support must translate into concrete defence assistance to help protect Ukrainian lives.
Meanwhile, energy company DTEK said the national grid operator, Ukrenergo, had ordered emergency electricity outages in Kyiv. The emergency restrictions were separate from the scheduled rolling power cuts implemented across the country.
Authorities have also revived public awareness campaigns urging residents to prepare for prolonged winter blackouts by storing drinking water, assembling emergency kits and arranging alternative power sources.
Kyiv police reported that bomb disposal specialists had defused two unexploded ballistic missile warheads, each weighing approximately half a tonne, after they landed near residential buildings. Russian drone strikes on the capital’s Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts late Wednesday reportedly killed four people and injured 12 others, including four children.
The conflict continues to involve long-range aerial attacks, while fighting along much of the front line remains largely deadlocked. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Separately, Russian technology company Yandex reported damage to one of its data centres in the Ryazan region following a Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the facility offline and potentially disrupting online services.
Ukraine’s General Staff also claimed that Ukrainian forces had struck a major oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Salavat, approximately 1,200 kilometres east of Moscow. The claim could not be independently verified.
The latest developments underline the growing humanitarian and infrastructure challenges facing both countries as the war continues and Ukraine prepares for another winter amid sustained attacks on its energy network.
