Russian drone kills 12 Ukrainian miners in Dnipropetrovsk bus attack

A Russian airstrike hit a bus carrying miners in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday, killing at least 12 people.

Emergency services in Ukraine later reported that the death toll had risen to 15 in one of the deadliest attacks on energy workers since the war began.

Sunday’s attack came hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

A spokesman for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, which employs the workers, told Fox News Digital that drones targeted the bus as it traveled “about 40 miles from the front in central and eastern Ukraine.”

A DTEK spokesman also described the incident as a “terrorist attack on civilian infrastructure.”

“This strike was a targeted attack on civilians and other crimes committed by Russia against critical infrastructure,” the spokesman said.

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The bus was transporting miners after the end of their work when it was hit by a Russian plane, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine also confirmed.

At least seven workers were injured, and the fire caused by the impact was later extinguished by emergency services.

“The victim of the attack was a company bus that was transporting miners from the company after moving to Dnipropetrovsk region,” the company said in a statement.

Zelenskyy condemned the strike late Sunday, calling it another deliberate attack on civilians.

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A Russian airstrike killed at least 12 Ukrainian miners and injured seven when they crashed a bus in the Dnipropetrovsk region. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk region)

Earlier in the day, he announced that the next round of trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the US will now take place on Feb. 4-5 in Abu Dhabi, after earlier expected on Sunday.

“Ukraine is ready for serious negotiations, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy told X, adding that the delay was agreed to by all sides.

The delay followed Saturday’s surprise meeting in Florida between Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s special envoy and head of Russia’s economic fund.

The talks in Abu Dhabi are now expected to include representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the US, according to the Associated Press.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both met separately with President Donald Trump. Although a peace agreement is close, local conflicts remain, Zelenskyy said. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP; Christian Bruna/Getty)

At the time, Zelenskyy warned Russia that it was increasing its air campaign against civilian and strategic targets.

“In the past week, Russia has used more than 980 drones, nearly 1,100 aerial bombs, and two missiles against Ukraine,” he wrote in X on Sunday. “We are documenting Russia’s efforts to destroy objects and connections between cities and communities.”

In a statement, DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko also explained that the bus attack marked “the biggest loss for the company.” [of] the lives of DTEK workers from a full-scale Russian attack.”

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“We can say with certainty that this was an unprovoked terrorist attack targeting civilians, which cannot be justified,” said Timchenko.

The attack marked “one of the darkest days in our history,” he added. “DTEK teams are working with emergency services on the ground in Dnipropetrovsk region to ensure that the injured, as well as the families who have lost loved ones, receive all the care and support they need. Their dedication will never be forgotten,” he added.