Kyiv: Russia bombed a village in southern Ukraine, killing 26 people inside what Kyiv has described as a humanitarian aid centre.
Russian aerial bombs struck the village in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian authorities said on Tuesday. The attack hit Komyshuvakha village, where a school building was being used to distribute humanitarian assistance to residents, as reported by the Sunday Guardian.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians and said the strike demonstrated that Russia was not interested in de-escalating the war. The attack took place on Monday, with regional head Mykhailo Semikin reporting that at least nine aerial bombs, each weighing around 3,000 kilograms, struck the village. Five people were injured, while 27 were initially reported missing.
The first strike hit the school building being used for humanitarian operations, Zelenskyy said. A subsequent attack targeted the area where people had gathered for shelter. Images shared by the Ukrainian president showed a large crater at the site, with emergency workers searching through the rubble for survivors.
Zelenskyy initially reported 18 fatalities. The death toll increased as rescue teams recovered more bodies from the debris. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, known as DSNS, later confirmed 24 deaths, including two emergency responders and four police officers. The president subsequently raised the toll to 26 in his late-night address on Monday.
People remained trapped beneath the rubble as rescue operations continued, Semikin said. However, Russian drone activity in the area repeatedly forced emergency teams to suspend their work.
Russian forces could not have been unaware that residents of Komyshuvakha gathered at the location every Monday to receive humanitarian assistance, the Ukrainian president said. Authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region declared Tuesday a day of mourning for those killed in the attack.
In his video address, Zelenskyy also warned that Ukraine had intelligence suggesting Russia was preparing another large-scale assault, with energy infrastructure and logistics facilities likely to be among the targets. He expressed concern that international attention could shift towards the US midterm elections on November 3, leaving Ukraine more vulnerable as it faces difficulties securing air defence systems and Patriot missiles.
“We have intel that Russia is preparing a new massive attack on our country – primarily targeting energy and logistics. The assumption is basically that tomorrow the world will be watching the American midterms, and what is happening here in Ukraine, along with our difficulties with air defense and Patriot missiles, will be overlooked. We need signals from the world to Russia that will make them feel that terror is no good, that it will bring no gains, and that as long as this war continues, their oil will burn, and they will not be able to make money doing business with the world. We must not play games with Russia’s oil or gas revenues. We must put pressure on Russia in such a way that it has no alternative but to end this war. America can do this,” Zelenskyy said.
There was no official response from Russia on this subject.