At least 33 dead in Russian bomb blast in east Ukraine stronghold

A Russian bomb attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed at least 33 people, authorities said on Thursday, describing it as a targeted strike on civilians in the key stronghold sought by Moscow.

Another 18 people were wounded in one of the largest single attacks this year, which took place on a street where police said two city buses were operating at the time of the strike. President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as a bus stop.

Images posted by police showed bodies strewn across a street littered with debris, as well as a charred shell of what appeared to be a bus.

“For them [the Russians], a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because one strike can kill as many people as possible,” regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram app.