At least nine people have been killed and four were injured after a Russian drone strike which hit a passenger bus in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy, according to local officials.
The Sumy regional administration said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that “This is another war crime by Russia — a deliberate strike on civilian transport that posed no threat.”
The strike took place a few hours after talks had been held between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey, the first direct peace talks in years, were unsuccessful in bringing about a ceasefire.
Ukraine’s national police released photos showing the aftermath of the strike, which took place in Sumy’s Bilopillia city, around 10 kilometres from the front line and border with Russia.
Authorities are working to identify some of the victims, most of whom are elderly women. The four who were injured, three of them reportedly in a serious condition, were taken to a hospital in Sumy city.
A period of mourning had been declared in Bilopillia until Monday, with local community chief Yurii Zarko calling the day of the attack “Black Saturday”.
