Where and when did the attack happen?
A service bus transporting miners was struck by Russian drones in the Pavlohrad district of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. Regional officials said the attack occurred at around 3:45 p.m. local time.
The bus belonged to the energy company DTEK and was carrying workers home after their shift when it was hit.
How many people were killed or injured?
According to DTEK, at least 15 miners were killed in the strike. The regional prosecutor’s office reported that 17 others were injured, nine of them in serious condition.
The company said it would provide full assistance to the families of those killed and to all injured workers.
How was the attack carried out?
Ukraine’s miners’ union leader and member of parliament Mykhailo Volynets said the attack involved four Russian Shahed-type drones.
National police confirmed the incident took place in the city of Ternivka, where a coal mine operated by “DTEK Pavlohradugol” has been active for more than 60 years.
One of the drones exploded near the bus, and the blast wave caused the driver to lose control, sending the vehicle into a roadside barrier.
Reports of a second, deliberate strike
Drone warfare expert and Ukrainian defense ministry adviser Serhii Beskrestnov, known by the call sign “Flash,” said the drones were controlled in real time.
He stated that after the first explosion, injured passengers exited the bus and began helping each other. A second drone operator then deliberately redirected the drone toward the people on the ground.
“The operators clearly saw that these were civilians, not military personnel, and still chose to attack. This is another act of terrorism,” Beskrestnov said.
Previous attacks on civilian transport
DTEK noted that this was not the first attack on its facilities in the region. On April 23, 2025, an FPV drone struck a bus carrying workers in the city of Marhanets.
That earlier attack killed nine people and injured at least 42 others.
Strike on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia
On the same day, a Russian drone strike damaged a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Regional governor Ivan Fedorov said six people were injured, including two women undergoing medical examinations.
Footage released by Ukrainian authorities was verified by BBC Verify as having been filmed at Maternity Hospital No. 3 on Bocharova Street in eastern Zaporizhzhia.
Political and international context
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes show that Russia continues to wage war against civilians despite public statements about peace efforts. Russian authorities have not commented on the incidents.
