The last 48 hours have seen massive, devastating Russian missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital and other cities, which left at 18 dead and over 100 injured. Russia said this was in response to the Starobelsk dormitory attack of last month and other drone attacks targeting Russian territory.
But Ukrainian forces have upped the ante once again, this time with a mass casualty event in Russian-control Donetsk region. "A Ukrainian drone strike killed seven people and wounded 11 others in the occupied Donetsk region after crashing into a passenger bus, Kremlin-installed authorities said Wednesday morning, as overnight attacks killed at least two people in Russia," The Moscow Times reports. State media later revised the death toll up to eight killed.
The strike happened in the town of Yenakiieve, while the group was being bussed to Simferopol in Crimea, all the way from Moscow on a long-distance route.
"According to preliminary reports, seven civilians were killed," Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), wrote on Telegram. "At least eight people have been killed and 11 others wounded," RT later cited him as indicating.
"The Ukrainian fascists have committed another act of unprecedented, inhumane aggression," Pushilin additionally said. The bus itself was subsequently shown to be utterly destroyed and left as a burned, charred shell.
Perhaps seeking to preempt possible Ukrainian explanations of the bus attack being 'unintentional' - officials have insisted it could not have been an accident:
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, asserted that the attack was “not a tragic accident” but rather a “vile, deliberate, and inhumane crime” against non-combatants.
“There are no military objectives that could justify the bloodshed of civilians. There are no arguments that can absolve those who issue and execute such criminal orders from responsibility,” she stressed.
This could invite even greater airstrikes on Kiev, after it has already been hit hard in the latest attacks.
Russian embassies and foreign ministry-connected channels have circulated footage of the attack aftermath:
President Putin and top military brass had last month said strikes would be initiated against "decision-making centers" in response to the dorm attack in the Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on May 22, which killed 21 people - mostly teenage girls - and injured 70 others.
Kremlin officials now say that Russian forces have "a right to dismantle any infrastructure that supports terrorism." This new bus attack strongly suggests there's no off-ramp or de-escalation on the horizon, but that tit-for-tat strikes will only grow and become more violent.