A Russian bombardment struck two buses and a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday morning, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 more, in one of the deadliest single attacks of recent weeks.
Ukrainian authorities warned the toll could rise further as rescue operations continued. Additional Russian strikes killed three people in the nearby village of Bilenke, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed the attack would “not go unanswered,” accusing Russia of seeking to “destroy all life in the Donbas,” the industrial heartland in eastern Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed without controlling in full.
UN Condemns ‘Horrific’ Attacks
The Kramatorsk strike came a day after Russian missile and drone attacks across multiple Ukrainian cities killed at least 30 people, including 22 civilians who died when a missile tore through an apartment block in Pryluky, in the country’s north.
The United Nations condemned what it called “horrific” attacks on Thursday, as the cumulative civilian toll from the week’s strikes mounted.
Kyiv Slides Into ‘Survival Mode’
In the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko described a city pushed to the brink as winter approaches, with Russia intensifying strikes on bridges, power stations and other critical infrastructure.
“Every day brings new reports of destroyed buildings, injured people or people tragically killed. Today, the question is survival,” Klitschko said.
Russian missiles and jet-powered drones have targeted Kyiv’s energy network around the clock, sometimes hitting the city center. The grid was already heavily damaged during last winter’s campaign. Recent attacks have triggered water and electricity outages across several districts.
“The [water distribution] crisis could be quite large in scale,” Klitschko warned. “Unfortunately, temporary power cuts have already begun in some neighborhoods.”
Rubio Warns of Escalation Risk
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the war between Russia and Ukraine has reached a “very dangerous” stalemate, warning that one or both sides may bet on escalation to break the deadlock.
“One side, or both, will intensify what they are doing to try to break the adversary,” Rubio told reporters during a stopover in Portugal at the end of a European tour.
He said the impasse could end either in “a negotiated settlement, in which each side has to give up something to achieve peace,” or in “escalation.”
“That is very dangerous, because this escalation could eventually take the form of a sabotage campaign in neighboring countries that are NATO members,” Rubio said.
He added that such a dynamic “could rapidly transform what is today a war between two countries into a much wider and infinitely more dangerous regional conflict.”
Drone Attacks and Black Sea Strikes
Separately, two Ukrainian drones put a data center operated by Yandex, often described as Russia’s Google, out of service, according to reports. Two vessels were also targeted by drones in the Black Sea, with sailors reported missing.
Ukrainian forces have continued long-range strikes on Moscow and Russian-held territory, while expanding their own defensive measures against drone attacks.
Diplomatic Track
Ukrainian envoys are expected to meet with representatives of the Trump administration in the coming days, with the agenda centered on a single question: concessions or escalation.
