Russian forces have killed at least 29 people after hitting a school building used as a distribution centre for humanitarian aid and shelter in southeastern Ukraine.
The attack happened in the village of Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia region on November 2 and an extensive rescue operation was launched as fears grew that the death toll could rise further.
The school was no longer used for regular classes because it was near the front line. It was now a centre where local people came every week to collect humanitarian aid. A nearby shelter was also being used by people trying to escape from the fighting.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces deliberately hit the area even though civilians usually came there to collect aid: “They struck first the school when people were coming in and then they bombed the shelter next to it with aerial bombs”.
Ukraine’s emergency services said 26 people had been killed at first but updated figures showed the death toll rose to 29 by November 3. Rescue teams continued searching for survivors in the buildings damaged by the blast and 48 people were reported missing.
Four police officers and two emergency rescue workers responding to the attack were killed. At least five other people were injured and required medical attention.
Russia killed at least 24 people by dropping 9 earial bombs on a school in Zaporizhzhia region. The facility had been used as a humanitarian aid distribution center. There are also wounded and missing. This is who the US is making diesel deals with – bloody murderers and terrorists!
— Kyiv. The City of Courage (@Kyiv) November 2, 2026
Photographs and videos released by Ukrainian authorities showed how much was destroyed at the site: damaged buildings, debris scattered around. Rescue workers continued their work though there were dangers of more attacks in the area.
The strike has brought back to the fore the risks civilians and humanitarian workers in communities close to frontline are exposed to. Komyshuvakha has been repeatedly attacked because it is in the Zaporizhzhia region where fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continues.
The incident also happened at an inopportune moment in the conflict. A short-lived six-day ceasefire linked to humanitarian aid deliveries and evacuation operations in Kherson expired on November 2.
The temporary ceasefire had enabled humanitarian aid to reach people in Russian-occupied areas and help evacuate civilians.
Zelenskyy said the latest attack showed Moscow was not willing to reduce hostilities. He pointed out that Ukrainians living in frontline communities were still in danger.
In the initial reports, the Russian government had not commented publicly on the specific attack.
Meanwhile rescue operation and casualties keep mounting as Russia-Ukraine war rages on. The deaths at a place where humanitarian aid was distributed again show how much the conflict has devastated ordinary people.
Dozens of people are still missing and Ukrainian emergency teams are still digging through the rubble while authorities determine just how much has been destroyed.
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