Russia has committed a new massacre of civilians just one day after launching bombings against cities in 12 regions of Ukraine. At least 30 people have died and another 18 people have been injured after two buses of the public transport service became the target of Russian bombs in the eastern city of Kramatorsk (Donetsk region) at around 10:00 this Thursday, according to local authorities. Three other people were killed in another attack in the nearby town of Bilenke.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as “crazy”, “murderer” and “terrorist” shortly after learning of this latest attack. The president has insisted on a visit to the town of Priluki (Chernihiv region), attacked on Wednesday, in a message that he sends almost daily: Ukraine “cannot wait” to receive more air defenses from its allies despite the progress made by the local arms industry.
Images published by the police show bodies in Kramatorsk scattered across a street full of rubble, as well as the charred frame of what must have been a transport vehicle. “For them [the Russians], a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because a single attack can kill many people,” regional governor Vadim Filashkin said in a Telegram message, regarding one of the deadliest massacres so far this year.
Moscow's forces have stepped up drone and guided bomb attacks on Kramatorsk and other cities in Ukraine's so-called fortress belt, according to local officials. They are populations that have become the backbone of their defenses in the Donetsk region.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the rest of the region still under its control, something kyiv refuses. The pace of Moscow's advances in the region has slowed significantly this year.
Filashkin has ordered the municipal authorities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, another key city in the fortress belt, to suspend public transport so as not to become a target for the Russians. “We have no right to risk” the lives of citizens, he stated.
These are the two main population centers under kyiv authority in Donetsk. The Russian troops are not advancing and remain a dozen kilometers away, but they are making life increasingly complicated for them with their day and night harassment using drones, missiles and guided bombs launched from planes such as the one used in this Thursday's attacks in Kramatorsk.
The city became a symbol of the horror of the Russian invasion shortly after Russian tanks crossed the border more than four and a half years ago. On April 8, 2022, two missiles hit the railway station, which had become a nerve center for the flight of thousands of people from Russian attacks. Nearly 60 people died in that bombing.
Now, a new indiscriminate killing of civilians has hit Kramatorsk. And it occurred just one day after tragedy struck Priluki during an offensive with missiles and drones against 12 regions that left at least 28 dead and more than a hundred injured. The town had the highest number of fatalities, 22, including five children. A missile hit the residential building where they lived during the early morning hours.
“Trump can do more”
Zelensky, during his visit to Priluki, maintained that the Russian president “likes” this situation and avoids negotiations. On the contrary, he added, it seeks to “escalate” the conflict. The Ukrainian president has urged Europe and the United States to make new efforts to hold these negotiations. “President Trump can do more,” said Zelensky, who was accompanied by the British Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband.
Next to a small bicycle and several stuffed animals rescued from the rubble, the president stopped for a few seconds. He left another stuffed animal in a brief event in which Miliband and other Ukrainian authorities also participated.
The head of British diplomacy, who has assured that London will support kyiv for as long as necessary, has referred to the “evidence” that Russia commits war crimes with attacks such as the one in Priluki. “Your security is the security of Great Britain,” he told Zelensky while both appeared before the building attacked on Wednesday. For this reason, Miliband has announced new sanctions against Putin's war machine, the so-called Russian ghost fleet that tries to circumvent embargoes, oil companies or the economy managed with cryptocurrencies.
Up to 38 new designations, between entities and individuals, increase London's objectives to try to limit Russia's capacity.
kyiv, for its part, has reported a new bombing on Russia's largest oil refinery, located in Omsk (Siberia), about 2,500 kilometers from Ukraine. The plant, operated by Gazpromneft, had already been attacked several times, most recently in July.
Neighborhood complaints
In Priluki, Zelensky approached a group of neighbors who were behind the tapes placed by the police. There, for several minutes, they conveyed their concerns to the president, mainly the lack of sufficient space in the school shelter, with a hundred seats; The future of those who have lost their homes and, finally, when they will be able to collect their belongings from the apartments have not been completely destroyed by the enormous missile explosion. The president promised the construction of a bunker more in line with the needs of the neighborhood, as well as houses for those who have lost them.
Among those inhabitants was the couple formed by Oleksander and Nina Vartosh, who arrived early in the morning from kyiv, where they both work. A few dozen meters away, they watched, before the arrival of the presidential delegation, how the firefighters were clearing debris from their apartment, split in half. The woman, surrounded by mountains of remains of all kinds, as well as personal belongings thrown by the shock wave towards the street, has not been able to contain her tears at such a desolate panorama.
The sound of the excavators, which like the enormous crane has its cabin protected by an anti-drone cage, intersected with the radios of the firefighters cutting iron from the remains of the building. For dozens of meters around, there was not a glass window to be seen. In fact, most have been left out of touch. Up to a hundred buildings, from homes to health centers and schools, were affected by the impact of the missile, according to authorities. In contrast to the machinery, silence and discouragement reigned among the neighbors.
