Russian Bombs Hit a Ukraine Aid Centre and Shelter, Killing 26, Ukrainian Officials Say

Russian forces bombed a school being used as an aid distribution point in the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, killing 26 people, Reuters reported, citing President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's emergency services. The BBC reported the same toll in its Monday-evening update, revised up from an earlier count of 18 as rescue crews worked through the debris.

Ukrainian officials said the first bombs hit the school, where residents who remain in the front-line village receive humanitarian aid every Monday — there were no classes, because the village lies too close to the front line. A second strike followed, with nine more bombs aimed at the shelter where people had gathered, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. Regional officials said at least nine 3,000-kilogram aerial bombs were used in the attack.

Ukraine's emergency services said two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead. Five people were being treated in hospital, including two rescue workers, and Zaporizhzhia City Council secretary Regina Kharchenko said 27 people were initially reported missing, so officials warned the toll could still rise. A day of mourning was declared across the Zaporizhzhia region for Tuesday.

The attack came a day after the expiry of a six-day local ceasefire arranged to bring aid into Oleshky, in the neighbouring Kherson region, and evacuate residents wishing to leave. Russia had not publicly commented on the Komyshuvakha strike in the reports available Monday evening.