Nine people murdered, including a family, in a Russian attack on a civilian minibus

Vladimir Putin's dictatorship continues to commit war crimes against Ukrainian civilians as part of its strategy of terror.

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The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESN) announced this morning at 9:55 CET the result of a new Russian attack against civilian targets, this time against a passenger minibus in the Bilopillia municipality, Sumy Oblast. The attack was carried out this morning using drones. "SESN specialists used special tools to extricate the bodies of the deceased from the wrecked vehicle," the SESN said. In this new Russian terrorist attack, 9 people were killed and 7 were injured. Here we can see a video from the SESN showing the rescue efforts of the victims of this attack:

У лікарнях зараз семеро поранених після удару російського дрону по звичайній маршрутці. У людей опіки, переломи, контузії. Всі отримують потрібну допомогу. На жаль, є загиблі – дев’ятеро людей. Усі деталі перевіряються. За попередньою інформацією, росіяни вбили сімʼю: батько,… pic.twitter.com/eY7OvxRA7O

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 17, 2025

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that in this latest war crime "the Russians killed a family: father, mother, and daughter died in the attack". In a message posted at 10:30 CET on his Twitter account, the Ukrainian president said: " All the deceased were civilians. And the Russians could not have failed to understand what kind of vehicle they were targeting. This was a deliberate killing of civilians." Zelensky added:

Pressure must be exerted on Russia to stop the killings. Without tougher sanctions, without stronger pressure, Russia will not seek real diplomacy. Yesterday in Istanbul, everyone saw a weak and unprepared Russian delegation without a meaningful mandate. This must change. Real steps are needed to end the war. We are expecting strong sanctions against Russia from the United States, from Europe, and from all our partners. Diplomacy must start working. I thank everyone around the world who is truly helping — not with words, but with strength. Peace is essential.

Ukrainian outlet Kyiv Independent reported that most of the victims were elderly women and were being evacuated outside the city of Bilopillia. According to Suspilne Media, the Sumy Regional Military Administration (OVA) has stated that a ZALA Lancet suicide drone, equipped with a camera, was used in this attack for guidance in the final phase of the attack. Thus, it can be concluded that the Russians clearly saw that their target was a civilian vehicle, but they didn't care. They have been doing this since the beginning of this invasion.

You can see the photos of the attacked minibus published by the DSNS and Zelensky here.