A Russian glide bomb strike on two passenger buses in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk has killed at least 30 people and wounded 18 others, authorities said on Thursday.

The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office confirmed the death toll following the attack on Telegram on Thursday morning.

What do we know about the attack?

The bomb struck the buses as they traveled along a street, also hitting a residential building, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The regional governor's office reported the same figures and said public transport services had been suspended.

Images released by prosecutors showed a burned-out bus and bodies on the ground.

The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office said it had opened a preliminary investigation into a suspected war crime.

Governor Vadym Filashkin said Russian forces were deliberately targeting civilian transport.

"For them, a bus with passengers is an attractive target precisely because one strike can kill as many people as possible," he said.

"Russia deliberately disregards all conceivable rules of warfare and the norms of international humanitarian law," he said. "It chooses targets where it can cause the most pain to civilians."

"Under such circumstances, we have no right to risk the lives of passengers and drivers," he said. "The safety of the residents of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk is now above all else."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the families and loved ones of all those who died. "This strike will not go unanswered," he wrote on X.

"Russia is trying to destroy all life in Donbas, and a response from the world is a must," Zelenskyy added.

The attack in Kramatorsk came a day after Russian strikes killed 30 people across Ukraine, including 22 in a residential building in the northern city of Pryluky.

Separate Russian strikes on Kyiv on Thursday killed three people and wounded 13 others, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Why is Kramatorsk strategically important?

Kramatorsk lies close to the front line in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. It is one of the main Ukrainian-held cities in the Donetsk region, which Russia claims to have annexed.

The city has served as a key military logistics hub throughout much of the war and forms part of Ukraine's heavily defended eastern "fortress belt."

Russian forces have advanced toward the city's eastern outskirts, prompting calls for remaining civilians to evacuate to safer areas.

Ukrainian forces have been conducting counterattacks in the surrounding area in recent weeks, claiming to have recaptured several square kilometers of territory.

Kramatorsk was briefly occupied by pro-Russian separatists in 2014 before Ukrainian forces retook it.

Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher

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