A Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as residents queued to collect their monthly pensions, killing at least 24 people and injuring 19 others, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack hit Yarova village in Donetsk region around 11 a.m., less than 10 kilometers from the front line. Regional head Vadym Filashkin said 23 of those killed were elderly pensioners.
“It was beyond words,” said resident Hennadii Trush, who lost his wife in the blast as she waited to collect her bedridden mother’s pension. He fled the village with his elderly mother after the attack. “Before, strikes landed on the outskirts. This time it was right in the center of the village,” he told the Associated Press, weeping with soot still on his face.
The strike destroyed homes and set the village ablaze. “The whole village is on fire,” said Pavlo Diachenko, head of communications for the regional police, who rushed to the scene. “Private houses were burning, and people tried to put out the flames with their own hands.”
The explosion tore through a mobile post office vehicle where pensions were being distributed, according to Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s postal service. The local post office had shut down a week earlier after staff evacuated. “Apparently, someone gave away the coordinates,” said Ukrposhta head Ihor Smilianskyi, noting that the car had been parked under trees to avoid detection.
At the morgue, victims showed severe blast wounds and burns. “They were all lying in one heap,” said Zinaida Hrymailo, who came to identify her 75-year-old cousin. She said her cousin had been preparing to leave Yarova after collecting her pension but died before she could flee.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “frankly brutal,” urging the world to impose tougher sanctions on Russia. “The world should not remain silent,” he wrote on Telegram. “The United States needs a reaction. Europe needs a reaction. Strong action is needed so that Russia stops bringing death.”
The UN says more than 12,000 civilians have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The latest strike came two days after Russia launched its largest aerial barrage of Kyiv since the war began.
Poland on alert
The assault also raised tensions in neighboring Poland, whose military said it went on the highest state of air defense alert overnight Tuesday. “To ensure the security of Polish airspace, the operational commander of the Polish armed forces has activated all necessary procedures,” the Operational Command said.
Polish and allied aircraft, along with radar systems, were fully deployed in what officials called “preventative” actions to secure areas adjacent to Ukraine.
European Council President Antonio Costa denounced the attack, asking: “Is this what Russia means when it talks about peace? When will President Putin accept to start peace talks already accepted by President Zelenskyy?”
Meanwhile, US and European officials held talks in Washington on new sanctions and tariffs targeting Russian oil revenues, as fears mount that Ukraine’s air defenses are being depleted faster than they can be replaced.
Glide bombs — retrofitted Soviet-era weapons that can weigh up to 3,000 pounds — have devastated eastern Ukraine in recent months.