Russian strike on Ukrainian public buses kills 30 people as blackouts
worsen in Kyiv
[October 09, 2026]
By HANNA ARHIROVA
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian-guided bomb exploded next to public buses
filled with passengers in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Thursday,
killing 30 people as part of a wave of attacks that also worsened power
outages in the capital.
The morning attack occurred next to a bus stop in the war-torn city of
Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, prompting public transport to be
suspended in the area.
“There is no doubt that Russia is cynically targeting civilians,”
Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city's military administration, said,
adding that the rescue effort had been hampered by subsequent Russian
attacks using small drones.
Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their
armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2
years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Russia has escalated its
aerial attack in recent weeks, putting pressure on Ukraine as it
prepares for winter and hitting the infrastructure keeping its
war-battered economy afloat. Recent targets have included energy
systems, key industries, railways, post offices, shopping centers,
telecom networks, gas stations and grain exports.
Thursday's attack followed a Russian missile strike a day earlier that
killed 22, including five children, in the northern Ukrainian town of
Pryluky. Rescuers were searching the rubble of a residential building.
At least 54 people were wounded. Several survivors slept in heavily
damaged apartments because they couldn't find anywhere else to stay.
Ukraine appeals for more defense support from NATO
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Pryluky on Thursday
with visiting British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who announced new
sanctions on Russia.
Zelenskyy warned that Russia will likely escalate daily missile and
drone attacks as winter approaches. He appealed for additional defense
support from NATO countries.
“It is important that support in words takes concrete form in new
packages for Ukraine’s defense,” he wrote in an online post. “Supplies
of anti-ballistic capabilities, ammunition for our combat aircraft and
investments in interceptors — all of this is directly helping save lives
every day.”
In audio clips responding to journalist’s questions Thursday evening,
Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation would meet in the U.S. with
President Donald Trump’s representatives Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff
for two days beginning Friday to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air
defenses, among other issues.
Ukraine's energy company DTEK said national grid operator Ukrenergo had
ordered emergency power outages in Kyiv. Regular, rolling outages that
occur on a schedule across the country will be halted during these
shutdowns.
Officials are urging families to prepare emergency kits, store drinking
water and maintain backup power sources, as Moscow keeps up the
intensity of its attacks.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service,
firefighters extinguish a burning bus after a Russian attack in
Kramatorsk, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency
Service via AP)
Kyiv police said bomb disposal specialists defused two unexploded
ballistic missile warheads, each weighing about half a ton, after
they landed near residential buildings. Late Wednesday, Russian
drones struck Kyiv’s Obolonskyi and Desnianskyi districts, killing
four people and injuring 12, including four children, police said.
Ukrainian attacks damage data center and oil refinery
Russian technology giant Yandex said one of its data centers in the
western Ryazan region was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack,
taking the site offline.
Also Thursday, Ukraine said its forces struck a large oil refinery
complex in the city of Salavat, some 1,200 kilometers (about 750
miles) east of Moscow. Ukraine's General Staff described the complex
as one of Russia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical
facilities. The claim could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian drones also reached Russia’s Omsk region in western
Siberia, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from the border
with Ukraine. Omsk regional Gov. Vitaly Khotsenko said most of the
drones were shot down by air defenses, but one “reached a northern
industrial hub.” He didn’t elaborate. Russian independent news
outlet Astra reported that the Omsk oil refinery was on fire after
the attack. There was no official confirmation of the report.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his government presented
proposals to both Russia and Ukraine aimed at protecting civilian
shipping in the Black Sea, while warning that commercial trade and
grain exports could be disrupted by escalating military offensives.
Separately, Lithuania deployed about 100 additional soldiers to help
secure the NATO member's border with the Russian enclave of
Kaliningrad, the Baltic country's defense minister, Robertas Kaunas,
said. Sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, Kaliningrad is
separated from mainland Russia and remains a major security concern
for NATO’s eastern flank.
___
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey; Liudas
Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania; Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece and
Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.
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