At least twelve people were killed in a Russian drone strike near a company shuttle bus in eastern Ukraine, according to regional officials, in one of the deadliest attacks in recent days. The strike took place in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where the bus was transporting workers from a local mine after their shift.
Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration, said seven others were injured. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, confirmed that its employees were on board and described the incident as a deliberate attack on civilian workers. The company later reported that the total number of victims had risen to fifteen.
The violence continued overnight in other parts of the region. In the central city of Dnipro, a separate drone strike killed a man and a woman. In Zaporizhzhia, six people were injured when a maternity hospital was hit, including two women who were in labor at the time. Regional governor Ivan Fedorov called the attack “a war against life,” sharing images of shattered windows, smoke-filled rooms, and burned debris inside the hospital.
These strikes come during a harsh winter, as Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power infrastructure, disrupting heating and electricity supplies while temperatures drop below minus 20 degrees Celsius in some areas.
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause attacks on major Ukrainian cities during the cold snap. However, local officials say the strikes have continued, casting doubt on the effectiveness of the agreement.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that a second round of talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year war will begin on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. The discussions will include Ukrainian, Russian, and U.S. representatives, offering a fragile hope for progress toward peace.
