Nonviolent Peaceforce Deplores Russia’s Significant Increase in Attacks on Ukraine’s Civilians
Deadly attack on passenger buses in Kramatorsk, among several concurrent attacks nationwide, signals an alarming trend ahead of winter.
ODESA, Ukraine – 08 October 2026: Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) condemns today's Russian glide bomb strike on a civilian passenger bus in central Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, which killed at least 33 people and injured 18 more. Several of the injured are in critical condition.
The attack is one in a series of strikes on civilians across Ukraine that demonstrate a sharp escalation in deadly violence. In recent days, residential buildings have been hit, including in the capital region, where 22 people, five of them children, were killed. On Wednesday, a central bridge in Kyiv was struck in daylight during rush-hour traffic.
In recent weeks, border crossings between Ukraine and Moldova and between Ukraine and Poland have also been targeted, injuring civilians and damaging points of transit that should be beyond the reach of armed conflict under international law.
"These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a documented, escalating pattern of harm to civilian life," said Joachim (Yomi) Kleinmann, NP’s Head of Programmes in Ukraine. "People on a bus, children in their schools, and families in their homes or on the run trying to reach safety are being killed in places that must be protected. The UN has reported more than 15,000 civilians killed or injured in Ukraine in the first eight months of 2026 alone. The data from September and what we’re learning firsthand from civilians across the country in the first days of October already points to a stark increase. That number will rise, and we are watching it happen in real time."
Official reports this week indicate that Russia’s threshold for authorised strikes on Ukraine has been lowered, removing constraints that previously limited targeting options. Furthermore, reports warn of further escalation against civilians. The consequences are already being felt in Kramatorsk, Chuhuiv, Kyiv, and across Ukraine against civilians.
As winter approaches, strikes on energy infrastructure, heating systems and water supplies are expected to intensify, with direct consequences for civilians' ability to survive the coming months.
"Every day, the world sees footage of strikes on civilians and humanitarian workers. The threshold for outrage has eroded, and horror has become normal," said Anastasiya Marchuck, NP’s Head of Mission in Ukraine. "Beyond the civilian deaths and the destroyed infrastructure, there is a cost that cannot be counted: the trauma of watching death become ordinary, and of seeing your city, your neighbours and your colleagues become targets. That damage will live inside Ukrainian communities for generations. People deserve protection, and they deserve a world that refuses to look away."
NP calls on the international community to act with the urgency this moment demands, and specifically to:
- Significantly increase political and economic pressure on the Russian Federation to cease attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure immediately,
- Reaffirm and enforce the protections afforded to civilians under International Humanitarian Law, and hold to account those who violate them,
- Prioritise civilian protection in all diplomatic, military, and humanitarian engagement with this conflict, particularly as winter conditions amplify the consequences of attacks on infrastructure, and;
- Support civilians and local humanitarian actors in developing and using safety strategies against emerging drone threats.
Über gewaltfreie Peaceforce
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is an international protection agency. Our mission is to protect civilians in violent conflicts through unarmed strategies, build peace side-by-side with local communities, and advocate for the wider adoption of these approaches to safeguard human lives and dignity. NP's duty of care programming aims to reduce the physical risks that humanitarian workers, volunteers, and all civilians are exposed to, as well as support the psychological resilience of volunteer networks and the communities they serve.
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