Russian air strike on Yarova, Donetsk Oblast kills at least 12 civilians

On 9 September 2025, Ukrainian pensioners were collecting payments in Yarova, Donetsk Oblast, when a Russian aerial bomb struck, killing at least 12. This strike marks the highest loss of life in a single incident that CIR has verified since Russian ballistic strikes killed 44 in Sumy on 13 April 2025.

The bomb struck the tiled floor of an open-air World War 2 memorial in central Yarova, severely damaging a nearby delivery van operated by Ukrposhta – Ukraine’s national postal service. The blast also damaged a neighbouring playground. The van, reportedly parked under a tree for cover, was being used to distribute pensions to Donetsk locals at the time of the attack, according to Ukrposhta director Ihor Smilianskyi.

Footage [WARNING: GRAPHIC] of the incident shared to X by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy shows deceased civilians lying next to the destroyed van. CIR investigators geolocated the footage to Yarova [49.061776, 37.636190] by matching the war memorial, the church, and the community centre shown in the footage to satellite imagery. Investigators then identified the Ukrposhta postal service van by comparing the vehicle’s decal with other known images.

Both Smilianskyi and Oleksandr Zhuravlev, head of the Lyman City Military Administration, claimed a 250 kg aerial bomb was used in the attack, whereas a post on a pro-Russian Telegram channel implies that a bomb of this size could not have been used. This post also claims the incident was in fact a false-flag attack by Ukrainian forces, asserting that the explosion – and the corresponding crater – produced by a FAB-250 should be far larger than that seen in Yarova.

While the exact type of munition remains unclear, CIR analysis reveals that it is a realistic possibility that a 250 kg or similar sized munition was used in Yarova. A comparison of images of the impact site at Yarova with images of a larger impact site from a known FAB-500 (500 kg) strike on Kharkiv suggests that a 250 kg munition could well have been used in Yarova, with the difference in crater size likely corresponding to the difference in weight.

The 9 September strike on Yarova comes just five days after Russian forces struck a vehicle being used in a humanitarian demining effort by the Danish Refugee Council, reportedly killing two Ukrainian staff, and marks a severe escalation of the threat to civilian life in the embattled northern reaches of Donetsk Oblast. As Russian offensives encroach on the Oskil river and air strikes persist, CIR will continue to monitor the situation.