Click to expand Image Policemen and medics help move people from an armored car to an ambulance in the village of Yarova, Donetska region. On September 9, 2025, Yarova was hit by a Russian aerial strike, which killed dozens of civilians. © 2025 Alex Babenko/AP Photo A Russian airstrike on the village of Yarova in Ukraine’s Donetska region on the afternoon of September 9 occurred as a group of older people were waiting to collect their monthly pension payments from a mobile post office. The attack is another abhorrent example of the way Russian attacks are killing Ukrainian civilians and may amount to a war crime.Official reports from the National Police of Ukraine and the Donetsk Regional Military Administration confirmed the attack killed 25 people—16 women and 9 men—and injured 18. Local officials told Human Rights Watch that all victims were civilians. The ages of the victims who have been identified ranged from 53 to 87, and 23 were pensioners.Yarova residents who witnessed the attack described a horrific scene. A woman who identified the body of her 75-year-old cousin, killed in the strike, described the victims as lying in a "heap," many of them with severe burns and blast injuries.Amidst ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war, Russia has intensified its brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians, and casualties have been rapidly increasing across the country. The Yarova attack is a horrific example of this escalation in the Donetska region.According to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, 530 civilians were killed and 2,772 injured in June and July of 2025. The number of casualties in July constituted a 22.5% increase compared to July 2024. At least 208 civilians were killed and 827 were injured in August, which also saw the second-largest air assault of the war on August 28, with Russia launching over 600 drones and missiles mostly on densely populated residential areas of Kyiv. The attack killed dozens and damaged or destroyed vital civilian infrastructure.Under international humanitarian law, civilians should never be the target of attacks. Warring parties are obligated to take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects. Serious violations of the laws of war—such as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks—are war crimes when committed deliberately or recklessly.Russia’s deadly attack on Yarova is a stark reminder of the toll the war continues to take on Ukrainian civilians. All negotiations to end the war need to prioritize the protection of civilians and accountability for violations. This requires continued international support for investigations and prosecutions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.