At least 31 people died when Russian bombs struck a school serving as an aid distribution point in Zaporizhzhia.
The ruined aid facility and shelter in Komyushuvakha, a village in southeastern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region near the front line, was hit in an attack on Monday. Russia carried out the bombing.
Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region's military administration, said Tuesday that the dead included four police officers and two rescue workers. At least five people were hurt in the attack.
The scale of the tragedy is terrifying
Zaporizhzhia declared three days of mourning. Monday's assault involved bombs designed to penetrate bunkers, each carrying nearly 1.5 tons of explosives.
Dozens of people were unaccounted for after the attack. Rescuers hoped over 45 residents trapped beneath the debris would survive.
The school served as a refuge and a distribution point for humanitarian aid each Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces first targeted it with aerial bombs.
The school held no classes, Zelensky said, since the village sat near the battle line in a war then in its 4-1/2-year-old phase.
The Russians struck first just as people were arriving – a few aerial bombs
People still living in Komyshuvakha met weekly to collect humanitarian packages, and Russian forces knew, or should have known, that, Zelensky said.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces struck Ukrainian military units near Komyshuvakha and two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, killing as many as 25 Ukrainian servicemen and destroying 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station.
Both sides reject claims that they intentionally attack civilians during the conflict.
The attack came the day after a six-day ceasefire in the area ended. It had been arranged to get aid into Oleshky, southwest in Kherson region, and allow residents who wanted to leave to evacuate.
If Russia genuinely wanted de-escalation, there was an opportunity following the situation in Oleshky to continue taking humanitarian steps. We proposed this. But Russia continues to kill people .
Strikes across nine regions involving 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles were followed by emergency power cuts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an online post that the barrage came during U.S. elections.
Local authorities said at least 62 people were injured in a Russian missile-and-drone assault in the northeastern Kharkiv region. In Nemyshlianskyi district, a medical facility was damaged, windows in four apartment buildings were broken and cars were damaged.
Over 200 patients had been moved to other medical facilities, said regional military administration head Oleh Syniehubov. In the Dnipro area, rescuers brought a woman out alive from the rubble on Tuesday morning.
Local authorities said one person died and 17 were wounded in a Russian attack in the Dnipro area. Patients had to be moved to other hospitals after an outpatient clinic and a hospital were damaged.
Recent Attack Casualties
Komyshuvakha
Zaporizhzhia region
At least 31 dead
- School used as aid hub
- Bunker-busting bombs used
Kharkiv region
Northeast Ukraine
At least 62 wounded
- Medical facility damaged
- Over 200 patients transferred
In August, UN monitors said civilian casualties had risen sharply from last year. July's deaths and injuries in Ukraine reached their highest monthly total since March 2022.
Talks in Abu Dhabi are planned for November 10 to 11, a senior US official told Reuters, bringing Ukraine and Russia delegations together to discuss steps toward ending the war, post-war security agreements and de-escalation.
The Russians think America won't notice this signal of theirs
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the attack on Tuesday, calling it another barbaric and cynical Russian attack. He said Russia's cruelty knows no bounds.
After sport's highest court ruled that Russia should be readmitted to major tournaments, Sybiha called on countries to exclude Russia from elite sports.
Russia deserves condemnation , isolation, and consequences, not a return to international respectability
- MondayCeasefire expires
Six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky ends.
- MondayAttack on Komyshuvakha
Russian bombs strike school used as aid hub.
- November 10 to 11Peace talks
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia to meet in Abu Dhabi.
What we know
- At least 31 people died in the attack.
- The dead included four police officers and two rescue workers.
- Three days of mourning were declared in Zaporizhzhia.
Still unclear
- The final confirmed death toll as rescuers continue searching rubble.
- The exact number of missing persons, with estimates ranging from 27 to nearly 50.
- Whether any survivors remain trapped under the debris.
