Two killed in Russian attack on bus in Kherson

KYIV - A Russian drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson killed two people and injured seven more early on Saturday, officials said.

Most of the casualties were public utilities workers, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin added on Telegram. He posted images from the site that showed the bus with blown-out windows and a body with traces of blood lying on its floor.

"Such attacks are part of a systemic policy of terror against the civilian population," Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said on the Telegram app.

Kherson, the only regional capital seized by Russian forces in their 2022 full-scale invasion, was recaptured by Ukrainian troops later that year but has increasingly come under attack from Russian forces across the Dnipro River.

Ukrainian officials and human rights organisations have accused Moscow's troops of deliberate and systemic small-drone attacks on civilians across areas close to the frontline, in particular in Kherson.

The southern Odesa region, targeted by Russian strikes almost daily over the last couple of months, also came under attack overnight, the regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

A warehouse and neighbouring buildings were damaged at a port, he added on Telegram.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 142 out of 163 long-range drones launched by Russia overnight.

(Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Peter Graff)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 12:05 AM.