At least 33 people were killed when Russian forces struck two buses in Kramatorsk, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, according to Corriere della Sera. Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional state administration, said 35 residents of the Donetsk region were killed and 25 wounded across the previous 24-hour period, with 32 of the deaths in Kramatorsk and three in Bilenkoye, as reported by Ukrinform. The Kramatorsk community declared October 9 a day of mourning.
The same day, Ukrainian negotiators were due to travel to Miami for talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Corriere della Sera reported. Britain, France, Germany, NATO and the European Union were invited to take part, according to the outlet.
Why it matters
The Kramatorsk strike is among the deadliest single attacks on civilians in recent months, and it lands as diplomatic channels reopen. The Miami meeting brings together Ukrainian officials and US intermediaries, with European allies and NATO at the table — a format that suggests Washington is trying to keep its partners aligned while testing whether Moscow's position has shifted.
The war's civilian toll continues to mount on both sides of the border. On the same day as the Kramatorsk attack, Russian officials reported deaths in the Belgorod region from Ukrainian shelling, and Ukrainian officials reported a fatal Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia. Each side attributes the violence to the other, and independent verification of battlefield claims remains difficult.
A wave of strikes across both countries
In Russia's Belgorod region, the regional operational headquarters said two people were killed and four wounded, including a child, in overnight Ukrainian shelling of the Belgorod district. According to the statement, a projectile hit a private home in the village of Razumnoye. The house was destroyed, and a neighboring property sustained roof damage, broken windows and a damaged fence.
In southeastern Ukraine, Mykhailo Semikin, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, said on Telegram that a Russian attack near a residential building killed one man and wounded two others.
Ukraine also struck targets inside Russia, according to Russian Telegram news channels cited by Corriere della Sera. The reports said a plant producing fuel components for Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles was hit, along with oil infrastructure. The Exilenova+ monitoring channel, citing residents, reported flashes and smoke near the Redkino experimental facility in the Tver region. That plant makes Decilin-M rocket fuel components as well as additives for diesel and aviation kerosene, and was struck in a previous Ukrainian attack in February 2026, according to the reports. Ukraine's General Staff said that earlier strike destroyed roughly 6,000 FPV drones and related components. The facility is subject to sanctions imposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and several other countries. Russia regularly uses Kh-55 and Kh-101 cruise missiles against Ukrainian cities, including in recent mass missile attacks on Kyiv.
Energy infrastructure under pressure
An October 8 Russian attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused widespread blackouts in Kyiv, the Kyiv Independent reported. Areas on the left bank of the Dnipro river were still without power in the early hours of October 9. Most districts experienced outages during the day, and the metro closed because of the power loss, leaving many residents without running water as well.
"There was an attack on one of the energy facilities important for the city of Kyiv," energy minister Denys Shmyhal said, adding that energy workers were doing everything possible to restore electricity as quickly as possible. Dtek, Ukraine's largest private energy company, reported emergency shutdowns in several parts of the region.
Journalist detained in Vienna, and a growing count of deported children
Mykhailo Tkach, who heads the investigative journalism department at the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda, was detained in Vienna while on an editorial assignment connected to the search for fugitive Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, according to the outlet. Tkach was in Austria with colleague Yaroslav Bondarenko. Ukrainska Pravda said its newsroom considers the detention unlawful and called for his immediate release and an official explanation of Austrian law enforcement's actions.
Ukraine's embassy in Austria asked Austrian authorities to clarify the circumstances of the arrest. Foreign ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy said the ministry, the consular services department and the embassy were monitoring the situation. The Ukrainian consul was later granted access to Tkach and spoke with him, but Austrian law enforcement continued to hold the journalist in custody.
Separately, Ukraine's parliament human rights commissioner secretariat told Ukrinform that 20,651 cases of deportation or forced transfer of minors have been recorded since Russia's full-scale invasion began, while efforts so far have secured the return of 2,665 children to Ukraine. As of October 7, 2026, the official "Children of War" portal lists information on 2,363 missing children, while the location of 59,676 children has been established.
The secretariat said the issue of deported Ukrainian children is raised increasingly often on the international stage, and described Russian policy as aimed at severing children's ties to their families, language and culture and erasing their Ukrainian identity. It stressed the need to distinguish between different categories of minors: those missing, and those confirmed to have been forcibly transferred, deported, or present in temporarily occupied territories or in Russia. According to the statement, not all children returned to government-controlled Ukrainian territory had previously appeared on the missing list or been sought by Ukrainian law enforcement.
What to watch
The Miami talks are the immediate focus: whether the expanded format — Ukraine, the US, and invited British, French, German, NATO and EU representatives — produces any movement, or whether the Kramatorsk attack hardens positions before negotiations begin.
