Dozens killed in Russian strike on buses in Ukraine's Kramatorsk as Kyiv targets data centre

Dozens killed in Russian strike on buses in Ukraine's Kramatorsk as Kyiv targets data centre At least 30 people were killed in a Russian strike on two buses in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region on Thursday. Earlier, a drone hit a data centre belonging to Russian technology company Yandex, causing a fire. At least 30 people were killed and 18 others wounded on Thursday when Russia struck two passenger buses in Kramatorsk near the front line in eastern Ukraine, authorities said. "As of now, the death toll from this morning's attack on buses has risen to 30. Eighteen people were wounded," the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office said. The governor's office gave the same toll and said public transport had been suspended. Read moreRussia launches one of its biggest strikes on Ukraine, killing at least 21 civilians 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 10:00am (0700 GMT), 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. Another three people were killed in a Russian strike on Kyiv, according to the city's mayor. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Drone hits Yandex data centre Also on Thursday, a drone caused a fire at a data centre belonging to Russian technology company Yandex, the company told AFP, 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 centres and logistics warehouses. The former head of Ukraine's Centre 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 centre 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 centre has stopped operating entirely, and some Yandex services may be unavailable to users," the spokesperson added. Ryazan regional governor Pavel Malkov said on Telegram Thursday that two Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region overnight, noting that "the roof of a business caught fire" in the Sasovo area. Sasovo is about 300 kilometres (186 miles) east of Moscow. Downdetector Russia, a website that monitors internet outages, showed a large spike in user complaints beginning in the early hours of Thursday. Andriy Kovalenko, the former head of Ukraine's official Centre for Countering Disinformation, posted an image on Telegram purporting to show the attack. "Two can play at this game. Ukrainian forces struck a Yandex data centre in the Ryazan region," he wrote. A data centre is a building that houses IT infrastructure, often servers and electronic equipment that ensure the smooth running of internet services. Ukrainian forces also struck the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery and petrochemicals complex in central Russia's Bashkortostan region, Kyiv's military said. In a statement, the General Staff said the attack had sparked a fire. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)