Russia Kills 35+ in Bus and City Strikes as WHO Confirms 3,300 Attacks on Ukraine Health Care

A Russian missile struck a passenger bus in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Thursday morning, killing at least 30 people and wounding 18 others, officials said [257137]. The regional prosecutor's office in the Donetsk region said an aerial bomb hit the vehicle at 10am, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Ukrainian civilians this year [257137].

The strike also set a second bus on fire, and all local public transport in the city has been suspended [257137]. The governor of the Donetsk region accused the Kremlin of "deliberately targeting civilians" [257137].

In a separate attack, a Russian airstrike damaged a hospital in the city of Kryvyi Rih on October 6, injuring several people including at least two hospital workers [257589]. The strike also damaged residential and administrative buildings and an art school in the city center [257589].

The World Health Organization has recorded more than 3,300 attacks affecting health care since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 [257589]. These attacks have killed 248 health workers and injured 1,095 others [257589].

The effects of such attacks extend beyond immediate casualties. A survey by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) found that the share of respondents able to access health care "always" or "most of the time" fell from 77 percent to 35 percent since the invasion [257589]. Those who can access care "rarely" or "never" rose from 7 percent to 35 percent [257589].

After years of fighting, the WHO estimates the cost of rebuilding Ukraine's health care sector at more than US$23 billion [257589].

International humanitarian law grants special protection to medical facilities, health care personnel and medical transport such as ambulances [257589]. Attacks on health care can also violate international human rights law, including the right to health, as well as the rights to life and security [257589].

In recent weeks, Russia has launched repeated missile and drone attacks across Ukraine. At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured in attacks nationwide in a single day, with the capital Kyiv facing a massive assault using both ballistic missiles and jet drones [256632]. Apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure were hit in several cities [256632].

A Russian missile struck a five-story apartment building in Pryluky early one morning while residents were still asleep, killing 22 people including five children [257025]. Rescuers have finished searching the rubble [257025].

In another overnight barrage, Russia launched about 70 missiles across Ukraine, killing at least 18 people and injuring 26 others [257048]. In Pryluky, 14 people died, with two killed in each of three other cities: Kyiv, Kremenchuk, and Oleksandriia [257048]. Among the injured were five children [257048].

A separate missile strike destroyed 30 flats in northern Ukraine while families slept, killing 19 people. Five of the dead were children [256714].

Russian drone attacks also struck the city of Kramatorsk over 25 minutes, hitting three ambulances and a high-rise building. A woman was killed in her home [255500]. The strikes on the medical vehicles and the residential building are under investigation as war crimes [255500].

Russian authorities and state media have alleged that Ukrainian strikes have also damaged medical facilities in Russia's border regions and in Russian-occupied territories [257589]. All parties to the conflict should immediately stop all attacks on health care and ensure their actions comply with international law [257589].