Russian bomb kills 12 in street in east Ukraine stronghold

A Russian bomb ​attack on the embattled eastern ​Ukrainian city of ‌Kramatorsk killed ​at least 12 people, authorities said on Thursday, the latest strike on a key stronghold ‌coveted by Moscow.

Another 14 people were wounded in the morning attack on a street where two city buses were operating, police said. President ‌Volodymyr Zelenskiy described it as a bus stop. Images posted ‌by police showed bodies strewn across a street littered with debris, as well as a charred shell of what appeared to be a bus.

"These are ⁠not 'the consequences ​of war', ⁠nor dry statistics. These are people killed by the Russian army," regional governor Vadym ⁠Filashkin said on the Telegram app. "Russia comes to Ukrainian land with ​death."

Moscow's forces have stepped up drone and guided-bomb strikes on ⁠Kramatorsk and other cities in Ukraine's so-called "fortress belt", local officials say, the ⁠backbone ​of its defences in the Donetsk region. Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the rest of the region still under its ⁠control before it stops fighting, which Kyiv refuses to do.

Thursday's attack came ⁠a day ⁠after dozens were killed in a massive Russian air attack across Ukraine, primarily targeting the country's power grid.