Russian Bombing Kills 29 at Ukraine Aid Centre, Kyiv Says

At least 29 people have been killed and 10 injured after Russian aerial bombs struck a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the village of Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials say.

A further 48 people were reported missing after at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs hit the village, according to regional head Mykhailo Semikin.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as “utterly horrific”. He said the first strike hit a local school being used for humanitarian purposes, followed by another attack on a location where people had taken shelter.

Zelensky shared video showing a large crater at the site and rescue teams searching through the rubble.

The death toll was initially reported at 18 before Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, known as DSNS, confirmed 24 deaths, including two rescuers and four police officers. Zelensky later said 26 people had been killed before Semikin announced on Tuesday that the toll had risen to 29.

Rescue operations remain ongoing, with people still believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Semikin said teams had been forced to suspend their work several times because of Russian drone attacks in the area.

“The scale of the tragedy is horrific,” Semikin wrote on Telegram, describing the bombing as a terrible tragedy for the village.

Zelensky said Russian forces would have known that residents who remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid there every week.

He said the attack showed that Russia was not seeking de-escalation, adding that a recent joint Russian-Ukrainian evacuation of civilians from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, during a temporary ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, had offered a moment of hope.

“With such killings, Russia is sending the exact opposite signal — Russia is counting on further killings,” Zelensky said.

The Russian military has not publicly commented on the attack. A day of mourning has been declared across the Zaporizhzhia region for Tuesday.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Meanwhile, teams from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected to resume peace talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, next week, according to US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff said the discussions would focus on post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts and further steps towards peace. US negotiators are also due to meet European and NATO officials in Brussels this week.

The talks have been suspended since February, while Moscow has intensified its attacks as Kyiv faces shortages of Western-supplied missile interceptors. No major breakthrough is expected from the upcoming discussions.