Dozens killed in Russian strike on civilian buses in eastern Ukraine

On October 8, Russian forces launched a deadly attack on two civilian buses in Kramatorsk, an eastern Ukrainian city near the frontline, killing at least 30 people and injuring another 18. Regional governor Vadym Filashkin accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilians. The incident follows several days of increased Russian strikes that have caused significant casualties across Ukraine, including a missile attack on Pryluky the previous day which killed 22 people, five of them children. Kramatorsk is part of Ukraine's so-called "fortress belt" in the Donbas region, a strategic area Russia aims to capture fully. President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed that such attacks would not go unanswered and warned of escalating violence as winter approaches.