Russian glide bomb attack in eastern Ukraine kills at least 21 people in
line to receive pensions
[September 09, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian glide bomb struck a village in eastern
Ukraine as people lined up outside to receive their pensions on Tuesday,
killing at least 21 and wounding nearly two dozen others, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a regional official said.
The bomb hit the Donetsk region village of Yarova, Zelenskyy said in a
post on Telegram. The village lies less than 10 kilometers (6 miles)
from the front line.
It was the latest Russian attack to kill civilians. More than 12,000
Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the three-year war, the United
Nations says.
With U.S.-led peace efforts making no headway in recent months, Russia
has escalated its aerial barrages of Ukraine. On Sunday, Russia hit the
capital, Kyiv, with drones and missiles in the largest aerial attack
since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022.
“Frankly brutal,” Zelenskyy said of Tuesday's attack, urging the
international community to make Russia pay economically for its
full-scale invasion through additional sanctions.
“The world should not remain silent,” Zelenskyy wrote. “The world should
not remain inactive. The United States needs a reaction. Europe needs a
reaction. The G20 needs a reaction. Strong action is needed so that
Russia stops bringing death.”
Russia has been scaling up its aerial attacks, despite U.S. President
Donald Trump’s attempts to persuade Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
to agree to a ceasefire and enter peace talks with Zelenskyy.
The major barrages have prompted concerns that Ukraine is using up its
air defenses quicker than they can be replaced by its Western allies.
U.S. and European officials met at the U.S. Treasury Department on
Monday evening to discuss various forms of economic pressure to exert on
Russia, including new sanctions and tariffs on Russian oil purchases, a
person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press.
The talks were expected to continue Tuesday.
The glide bombs are retrofitted Soviet weapons that have laid waste to
eastern Ukraine for months. Some of them now weigh 3,000 pounds (1,360
kilograms), which is six times bigger than when they were first used in
battle in 2022.
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In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talk during joint press
conference with Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert in Uzhhorod,
Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 5 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
via AP)
In Ukrainian villages, where there are no ATMs and older people are
unfamiliar with digital banking, pensions are commonly delivered to
the local post office on a certain day of every month. Retirees
stand in line to pick up their pension in cash.
Photos and video of the scene posted on official Ukrainian channels
showed bodies lying around a damaged white car with yellow branding
that was parked beneath trees, suggesting that it was acting as a
mobile post office in the dangerous area. Officials weren't
immediately available to comment.
The head of Ukraine’s national postal service, Ukrposhta, said the
company constantly changes security procedures. Ihor Smilianskyi
said the car was parked under trees to reduce the risk of it being
spotted by the enemy.
“But apparently, someone gave away the coordinates,” Smilianskyi
wrote on Facebook.
Donetsk Gov. Vadym Filashkin said that 21 people were killed and 21
others wounded in the attack.
“This is not warfare. This is pure terrorism,” he wrote on Telegram.
Emergency responders were at the scene, he said.
The territory was occupied by Russia in 2022, but was liberated by
Ukraine’s armed forces in a counteroffensive later the same year.
___
Fatima Hussein contributed to this report from Washington.
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