At least 24 people were killed on Monday in a series of Russian airstrikes on Komyshuvakha, a Ukrainian settlement near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said Russia used around ten aerial bombs in the attacks and described the incident as “exceptionally horrific.”
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the strikes hit a school that was being used as a humanitarian aid distribution center. Among the dead were two rescue workers and four police officers.
The death toll could rise. Local authorities told media that 27 people were missing, while police and rescue teams were working to reach residents believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.
Zelensky said Russian forces carried out several airstrikes against the settlement during the morning. The first struck the school, where local residents regularly received aid. He added that nine further bombs were dropped on a shelter where people had sought protection.
The Ukrainian president said Russian forces could not have been unaware that residents remaining in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian assistance each week. He argued that the attack showed Moscow had no intention of reducing tensions in the conflict.
Komyshuvakha had around 5,000 residents before the war. It lies southeast of the regional capital, also called Zaporizhzhia, and about 20 kilometers from the front line. The settlement has faced repeated Russian attacks with guided aerial bombs since November 2025.
Such bombs are frequently used by Russia against areas close to the front. Their wings allow them to travel dozens of kilometers, enabling Russian aircraft to strike targets from a distance and remain outside the range of Ukrainian air-defense systems.
The attack came one day after the expiration of a six-day ceasefire negotiated by U.S. first lady Melania Trump to deliver aid to Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and evacuate residents who wished to leave. According to Russia’s commissioner for human rights, Yana Lantratova, just under 750 people were evacuated from the city over the weekend.
Sources: La Vanguardia.