Russian attack on Kramatorsk buses kills at least 33 as toll rises

The latest wave began overnight on October 6 and 7, with Russian missiles and drones striking across Ukraine. Ukraine reported 130 drones, 48 cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, according to Al Jazeera.

The heaviest losses were in Pryluky, in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region, where a missile destroyed a five-story residential building, the Japan Times reported. Families were asleep when it hit. BBC News reported that 30 flats were destroyed and five children were among the dead.

On October 7, casualty reports climbed as the scale of the overnight attacks became clearer. Arab News reported at least 28 deaths across Ukraine, including five children killed in the northern apartment block.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said three of the children were just 12 months old and another was eight, according to NDTV News. The outlet reported that the interior ministry announced the recovery of another child's body that evening.

On October 8, another Russian attack struck passenger buses in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine. Franceinfo initially reported at least 12 deaths. The Financial Times subsequently reported at least 30 deaths after an aerial strike hit two passenger buses at a bus stop.

The Kramatorsk toll then reached at least 33, according to authorities cited by CBC. Separately, The New York Times reported that the previous day's apartment-building attack had killed 22, higher than the earlier count of 19 reported by BBC News.

The attacks also disrupted daily life beyond the immediate strike sites. Kramatorsk authorities suspended public transport, Deutsche Welle reported, while NPR reported worsening power outages in Kyiv.

At least 33 people have been reported killed in the Kramatorsk bus attack alone. Injury counts differ: nu.nl reported 14 injured, Telegraaf reported 18, and SVT reported at least 20. These figures should not be treated as a settled tally.

A separate Russian attack on a residential building in Kyiv's Desnyansky district killed two people, according to TGcom24, which also reported that eight children were rescued. The available reports cover different locations and reporting stages, so they do not establish a single final death toll for the two days.

The immediate question is whether the Kramatorsk death toll rises further. President Volodymyr Zelensky said doctors were fighting to save lives and warned that more people could die, according to Le Monde.

Zelensky also vowed that the attack "will not go unanswered", CNA reported. The provided coverage does not specify what that response would involve or when public transport in Kramatorsk will resume.