Leonid Pasechnik, the Moscow-installed head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), said the bus, traveling between Lysychansk and Stakhanov, was hit, killing eight passengers at the scene and one more in a hospital. He said the bus carried 15 passengers, and six others, including the driver, were injured.
Pasechnik did not specify how the strike was carried out. Ukrainian military officials did not comment on his claims, and no independent verification of the incident was available. The Russian Telegram channel Mash on Donbas published photos of what it said was the attacked bus, claiming it was hit by drones.
Sources differ on the details: Pasechnik reported nine dead, but independent data on the number of casualties and the circumstances of the strike have not yet emerged.