Russians strike passenger minibus in Sumy Oblast with a drone, injuring 10 including two children

A Russian drone struck a route taxi on the Sumy-Bilopillia motorway in the Sumy District, injuring 10 people, including two children, according to the Sumy Oblast Prosecutor’s Office and Oleh Hryhorov, head of Sumy Oblast Military Administration.

Prosecutor’s Office reported that the attack occurred at around 4:50 p.m. on October 2025, when a minibus traveling on the Sumy-Bilopillia road was attacked by a Russian drone. There were five passengers and a driver in the vehicle. Five of them sustained injuries of varying degrees of severity.

A Russian drone has hit a minibus on the motorway near the Mykolaivka hromada – a local government area that includes one or more nearby settlements. The Russians have deliberately struck a passenger vehicle, directly hitting civilians, Hryhorov reported.

Among the injured are two children aged 15 and 8. Two of them – one child and one adult – are in a critical condition.

Hryhorov added that the minibus, which had been heading towards Sumy, was completely burnt out.

“Scheduled public transport should not have been using this section of the road – other routes have been designated for such travel. We are currently establishing all the circumstances of the incident,” he added.

Hryhorov reiterated that this section of the road is subject to restrictions, as it is a high-risk area, and that authorities developed and approved a route scheme for passenger transport that bypasses dangerous roads.

“Ignoring such requirements puts people’s lives at risk and can have tragic consequences. Irresponsibility when it comes to safety is unacceptable. All the circumstances of the incident are currently being clarified, and I am confident that the law enforcement agencies will give it a proper assessment,” Hryhorov added.

Previously, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported that Russian forces launched a targeted strike on a civilian freight vehicle on the outskirts of the Bilopillia hromada in Sumy Oblast.  

A 36-year-old man delivering food to the city sustained injuries as a result of the attack. He received medical assistance at the scene.

Over the course of October 25, Russian troops carried out 64 attacks on 31 settlements across 14 hromadas in Sumy Oblast.

Earlier, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industrial workers continue to operate, many without international restrictions.

Ukraine urges the international community to unite to restore global security under the UN Charter and strengthen sanctions against Russia to enforce compliance with international law. Following Russia’s initial invasion in 2014, Ukraine has pursued the liberation of its territories within its internationally recognized 1991 borders while developing comprehensive reintegration strategies and policies for all liberated areas.

As is known, China, North Korea, India, and Brazil also assist Moscow in killing citizens of Ukraine in Russia’s war, including funding the Russian budget through trade. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated during a press conference in Brussels that China is not interested in Ukraine’s victory or Russia’s defeat.

“China is a very difficult question, really complicated. We do not have a permanent dialogue with Xi Jinping. We had some phone conversations, and he told me that he will not sell weapons. I know nothing about arms packages, but I know one thing: China helps Russia, does not help Ukraine, and is not interested in our victory or Russia losing,” the President said.

China said that it opposes recent US sanctions against two of Russia’s largest oil companies over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.