Russian drone hits bus in Kherson: four dead
Four more people were injured in the attack on the southern Ukrainian city, and the vehicle was traveling along a street that Russian forces frequently target from the air.
Four more people were injured in the attack on the southern Ukrainian city, and the vehicle was traveling along a street that Russian forces frequently target from the air.
A Russian drone strike on a bus in Kherson on Thursday morning killed four people and injured five passengers, the regional prosecutor's office said, as reported by Index.hr and HRT.
The statement said that, according to preliminary information, four civilians riding in the bus were killed. The route the vehicle was traveling on had already been targeted by Russian airstrikes before, the prosecutor's office noted.
The attack occurred in the morning in the Korabelnyi district, and Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported that all injured individuals were women who have been hospitalized. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack on social media platform X, calling it a "criminal Russian 'safari' against our people in Kherson" that has "long crossed everything a normal person can imagine."
"This is the reality of everyday life in Ukraine's coastal regions. While partners hesitate over additional deliveries of defense equipment, the Russians have long gone wild," Zelensky said.
Footage released by regional authorities shows a yellow minibus with completely smashed windows. Kherson had a population of approximately 280,000 before the conflict began and was under Russian occupation from March to November 2022.
Part of the Kherson region remains under Russian control, and the city is shelled almost daily, sources emphasize. According to local authorities, Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past 24 hours have killed at least 17 people and injured 54.
In addition to the bus attack, nine more people were injured in the Kherson region over the previous day in Russian strikes on critical infrastructure and residential areas. In the Kharkiv region, Russian attacks killed 10 people, and in the Zaporizhzhia region, two people were killed and 10 injured. In the Donetsk region, one person died in Druzhkivka and four were injured.
Overnight, Russia launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 65 drones, of which Ukrainian air defense shot down 56 drones and two Lancet loitering munitions, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.
The bus attack came just a week after Russia targeted two passenger trains in the Odesa region, killing two people and injuring a child. According to a UN report, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine in July reached its highest level since May 2022, with 437 killed and 2,610 injured, a 30 percent increase compared to the previous month.
HRT also reports that attacks have intensified on both sides of the front line, with Russian authorities also recording an increase in civilian casualties on their territories in the first half of 2026.
