Russia Strikes Ukrainian Miners’ Bus, Killing 12, Shortly After Peace Talks Delayed

At least 15 Ukrainian miners were killed Sunday when a Russian drone struck their bus in the Dnipropetrovsk region, marking one of the deadliest single attacks on energy workers since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.

The attack occurred as the workers, employed by DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, were returning from their shift. The bus was traveling approximately 40 miles from the front line in central and eastern Ukraine when it was hit, sparking a fire that emergency crews later extinguished. At least seven additional workers were injured in the strike.

“This was an unprovoked terrorist attack on a purely civilian target, for which there can be no justification,” said DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko in a statement, calling it “one of the darkest days in our history” and the company’s “single largest loss of life of DTEK employees since Russia’s full-scale invasion.”

A DTEK spokesperson described the incident as a “targeted terrorist attack against civilians and another crime by Russia against critical infrastructure.” Ukrainian emergency services confirmed the attack, with the death toll rising from an initial report of 12 victims to 15 as rescue operations continued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike, characterizing it as another deliberate Russian attack on civilians. The bus attack came just hours after Zelenskyy announced that the next round of trilateral peace talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the United States had been postponed.

The negotiations, originally scheduled for Sunday, will now take place February 4-5 in Abu Dhabi. “Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war,” Zelenskyy said on social media platform X, adding that all parties had agreed to the delay.

The postponement followed an unexpected meeting in Florida on Saturday between Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s special envoy and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, suggesting behind-the-scenes diplomatic movements.

Despite these diplomatic efforts, Zelenskyy warned that Russia has been intensifying its aerial campaign against Ukrainian civilian and logistical targets. “Over the past week, Russia has used more than 980 attack drones, nearly 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles against Ukraine,” he wrote on X. “We are recording Russian attempts to destroy logistics and connectivity between cities and communities.”

The attack on the miners’ bus represents a troubling escalation in Russia’s targeting of critical civilian infrastructure. The energy sector has been a frequent target throughout the conflict, with power stations, transmission lines, and now personnel coming under direct attack.

DTEK, which operates numerous coal mines and power plants across Ukraine, has been working to maintain the country’s energy supplies despite repeated Russian strikes on the power grid. The company said it is working with emergency services “to ensure the injured, and families who have lost loved ones, get all the care and support they need.”

The strike highlights the growing humanitarian toll of the conflict as it approaches its third year, with civilians continuing to bear the brunt of hostilities despite ongoing peace efforts. It also underscores the vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter continues, a period when reliable power is most critical for the civilian population.

As the Abu Dhabi talks approach, this deadly attack serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of the war and the significant challenges that remain in reaching a sustainable peace agreement between the two nations.