Russian strike on Ukrainian aid centre kills 18, Zelenskyy says
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian attack on a school used as an aid centre in Komyshuvakha killed 18 people and followed a limited ceasefire that had just ended.
Russia bombed a school that was being used as a humanitarian aid centre in the village of Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, killing 18 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The strike hit the aid distribution centre and a nearby shelter shortly after a limited ceasefire in the southern Kherson region expired on Monday.
"The Russians could not have been unaware that every week, local residents who had remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid at that very location," Zelenskyy said, adding that the attack demonstrated Russia's lack of interest in de-escalation.
He described the assault as a "double-tap" strike, with an initial bombing followed by nine additional bombs aimed at the shelter where civilians were taking cover. Zelenskyy called the attack "utterly horrific" and urged an international response, saying Russia was sending a signal that it was counting on further killings.
The brief pause in fighting, which began on Oct. 27, had allowed humanitarian aid and evacuation missions into Russian-occupied territory and was the most significant truce since the invasion started nearly five years ago. It is unclear whether recent cyber-attacks that triggered false emergency alerts in Ukraine and Russia were related to the strike. A Russian Telegram channel reported that a hacking group, Hitcore, claimed responsibility for breaching Ukraine's emergency alert system, though the claim has not been independently verified.