On October 8, at around 10:00, Russian aircraft dropped a guided aerial bomb on two scheduled buses at a stop in Kramatorsk (Meduza, Gulf News, Slovo i Dilo, UkraNews, Khaleej Times). At first 12 dead were reported, then 30, and later 33 civilians and 18 wounded (State Emergency Service, Filashkin). Zelensky said that some of the bodies could not be identified, and promised a response. Filashkin halted public transport in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk; the prosecutor’s office opened proceedings for a war crime. In the evening a drone killed two more people in the city (Kramatorsk city council via kurs.com.ua).
This is the second strike in a week to take dozens of lives, after Pryluky. Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are in a zone of constant shelling in Donetsk region, and transport is the only way to leave.
If you live in Donetsk region or have relatives there, check regional military administration announcements about evacuation and transport. Help for the victims goes through verified funds; do not share photos of the dead.
A strike like this is a war crime: the target was ordinary passengers at a stop, with no military object nearby.
Moscow denies any intent to strike civilians and rejects such accusations; there is no independent evidence of its position.
The final number of victims may still change. We are watching two things: whether transport in Kramatorsk resumes, and what measures the regional administration takes to protect stops and convoys.
Meduza, Gulf News, Slovo i Dilo, UkraNews, Khaleej Times, kurs.com.ua, Texty.org.ua (Oct. 8–9, 2026)
Aerial bomb hits two scheduled buses in Kramatorsk: 33 dead, 18 wounded
The strike on Thursday morning fell on a stop almost in the center of the city. Donetsk region authorities halted public transport in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk; some of the dead have still not been identified.
On Thursday, October 8, at around ten in the morning, Russian aircraft dropped a guided aerial bomb on two scheduled buses at a stop almost in the center of Kramatorsk (Meduza, Gulf News, Slovo i Dilo). The city council first reported 12 dead, then 30, and by evening 33 dead and 18 wounded; this was reported by the State Emergency Service and Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional military administration. Zelensky said that some of the bodies could not be identified because of the severity of the injuries, and declared that the strike “will not go unanswered.”
Filashkin ordered public transport stopped in Kramatorsk and in Sloviansk; under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office, a pre-trial investigation into a war crime has been opened. In the evening a Russian drone attacked a civilian car in the city, two people were killed, and the total number of dead over the day, according to the city council, reached 32 (kurs.com.ua) — a different counting method from the 33 from the strike on the buses. Russia denies that it strikes civilians.