A Russian drone crashed a bus in southeastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday, killing at least 12 people and injuring eight others, authorities said.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said the Russian government had launched a “massive attack” on coal mines in the region, crashing a bus carrying miners who had just finished their shift.
“At least 12 miners were killed and eight others injured when Russia crashed a bus transporting personnel at the DTEK mine in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region,” DTEK said in an update Sunday night, revising the death toll downward from 15.
Regional Governor Oleksandr Ganza confirmed the deadly attack in the Pavlohrad district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Serhiy Beskhrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said Shahed’s drone struck near the bus, causing it to veer off course and crash into a fence.
As injured passengers began to exit the bus, a second drone was aimed “directly at the civilian population,” he said.
“The agents on Russian territory saw and recognized the target as 100% civilian, considered it non-military and made a conscious decision to attack,” Beskhrestnov said.
The attack caused a fire, which has now been extinguished, Ukraine’s State Emergency Services Agency said.
In a post on Telegram, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Denis Shmyhal called this a “cynical and deliberate attack on energy sector workers” and said “our enemies will be held accountable for these crimes.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the attack “a crime that proves once again that Russia is responsible for the escalation.”
The incident follows a strike at a maternity hospital early Sunday in the city of Zaporizhia, also in southeastern Ukraine. At least six people were injured in the attack, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Health, all medical staff and patients, including three women in labor, were in the evacuation center at the time of the attack.
Meanwhile, efforts continue to prevent the Russian military from using Starlink to guide drones over Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Sunday that Kiev is working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX company to ensure that only authorized Starlink internet terminals function in the country. “Unverified devices will be disabled,” he said.
In a post on X Sunday, President Zelenskiy confirmed that the next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States aimed at ending the war in Ukraine will be held in Abu Dhabi on February 4th and 5th.
Zelenskiy said in his regular address on Sunday that the framework for the talks would be decided on Monday.
Russian state media TASS also later reported, citing sources, that the talks would take place “midweek.”
The second round of talks was initially tentatively scheduled to be held on Sunday, but President Zelenskiy had warned days earlier that it could be postponed amid the evolving situation between the United States and Iran.
The first such talks were held in the United Arab Emirates capital over the weekend and were hailed as “constructive” by all quarters.
This article and heading have been updated with additional developments.
