Russian strikes kill 15 in Ukraine

KYIV (AFP) — Russian strikes in two areas of the Ukrainian capital on Thursday have killed three people and injured 13, Kyiv’s mayor said.

An initial strike left one person dead and 11 injured, while a separate strike sparked a fire in a four-story building, where emergency workers later recovered two bodies, Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

At least 12 people also were killed and 14 others wounded on Thursday when Russia struck two passenger buses in Kramatorsk near the frontline in eastern Ukraine, authorities said.

“According to preliminary data, 12 people are known to have been killed as of now. Additionally, 14 people are believed to have sustained injuries,” the local prosecutor’s office said.

“The final toll of the enemy attack is being determined,” it added, posting photos of bodies and debris strewn across a road in front of the burning metal shell of a bus.

Ukraine’s national police said Russia had hit the buses with a glide bomb.

Kramatorsk is one of the key cities that Russia has not yet captured in the eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow claims as its own.

It has been a logistics and supply hub for the Ukrainian military for much of the war and is part of the so-called “fortress belt” which troops are fighting to keep hold of.

Russian forces have edged close to the city’s eastern edge, which has prompted calls for civilians who remain to relocate to safer regions of Ukraine.

Thursday’s strike, which happened at 10 a.m., came a day after a Russian missile hit an apartment block in the northern region of Chernigiv, killing 22, including five children.

Kramatorsk City Council said it was “yet another horrific crime committed by the Russian army against the civilian population.”

“Once again, the Russians have struck a location where there are absolutely no military targets,” it added.

Data center hit

A drone caused a fire at a data center belonging to Russian technology company Yandex, the company told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Thursday, in the first such strike of its kind on Russia.

Unverified images published on social media showed columns of thick, black smoke pouring from the roof of the building, which the company said was in the central Ryazan region, located southeast of Moscow.

Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified long-range strikes on each other in recent months, with recent Russian attacks targeting Ukrainian data centers and logistics warehouses.

The head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation said Kyiv was responsible for the strike, writing on Telegram: “Two can play at this game.”

Yandex is Russia’s largest technology company.

Often dubbed “Russia’s Google,” the firm runs the country’s most popular search engine, as well as a food-ordering and taxi application used by tens of millions of people across the Russian-speaking world.

“A drone attack caused a fire at the Yandex data center in Sasovo, affecting part of its infrastructure,” a Yandex spokesperson told AFP, without specifying the origin of the drone.

“There are no casualties, and emergency services are on site dealing with the aftermath. The data center has stopped operating entirely, and some Yandex services may be unavailable to users,” the spokesperson added.