Russian strikes on aid centre in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia kill at least 26, as rescuers search rubble and 27 remain missing
Russian bombs struck a school used for weekly humanitarian aid distribution in Komyshuvakha, then hit its shelter in a second wave, killing at least 26 people a day after a rare local ceasefire expired.
At least 26 people were killed on Monday when Russian forces struck a school in the village of Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, that was being used as a humanitarian aid distribution point, according to Ukraine's emergency services and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The attack unfolded in two waves, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. A first set of aerial bombs hit the school building, and as people fled for cover, a second strike dropped nine more bombs directly on the shelter where they had gathered. Ukrainian officials described the second wave as a deliberate double strike, timed to hit people and rescuers who had moved to safety after the first explosions. Five other people were being treated in hospital, including two rescue workers, the emergency services said. Among the dead were four police officers and two members of a State Emergency Service crew, while regional officials said 27 more people were still missing under the rubble as night fell, raising fears that the death toll could climb further. The school, in a village about 35 kilometres east of the city of Zaporizhzhia and roughly a dozen kilometres from the front line, had not been holding classes for some time because of its closeness to the fighting, Zelenskyy said. Instead, residents from surrounding front-line settlements gathered there every Monday to collect humanitarian packages, a routine he said Russian forces could not have been unaware of. Rescue work on Monday evening was made harder by further danger from above. Regional officials said Russian drones launched additional attacks around the bombed site while emergency crews worked with flashlights through collapsed buildings, and two rescue vehicles were among the equipment damaged or destroyed. Zaporizhzhia's regional administration declared Tuesday, 3 November, a day of mourning for the victims. Names of some of the dead released by officials included two 44-year-old emergency workers, Denys Konovalenko and Oleksii Sushchevskyi, who were killed after moving into the shelter as the threat of a further attack grew. The strike landed a day after a rare six-day local ceasefire in the Kherson region expired on Sunday night. That pause, centred on the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, was the longest uninterrupted truce of the war and allowed nearly 800 civilians to leave the town, with the White House saying United States First Lady Melania Trump had helped broker the arrangement. Kyiv had proposed extending the Oleshky pause, but a senior Ukrainian figure told the AFP news agency that Moscow declined, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that no similar local ceasefires were planned for now. Ukraine's General Staff also accused Russian forces of using the pause to strengthen their positions, rotate units and increase deliveries of ammunition. Zelenskyy seized on the contrast between the two events, arguing that the Komyshuvakha attack showed Moscow was intent on killing rather than building on the humanitarian opening created at Oleshky. Russia has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians, a position it has maintained throughout the war, though it has not been reported to have issued a specific response to the Komyshuvakha claims in the initial coverage. What happens next now turns on the search through the rubble, where officials fear more bodies may be found, and on whether the casualty figures are revised as the missing are accounted for. Diplomats are also watching whether the collapse of the Oleshky model, followed within a day by one of the deadliest strikes on an aid site in recent months, affects United States-led talks between Russia and Ukraine that are expected to resume this month.Advertisement · Google AdSense 728×90 / 320×100
More in News
NewsHackers turn supermarket fridges to 50C across seven European countries, forcing stores to throw away tonnes of spoiled food
NewsVessel struck by unknown projectile off Oman's Lima coast, UK maritime agency reports, as Hormuz shipping incidents continue
News