Ukrainian authorities say at least 24 people were killed when Russian missiles struck the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region of southwestern Ukraine on Monday, according to Nettavisen. The reported toll was initially put at 18 before being raised to 24 around 7pm, with Reuters citing Ukraine's state emergency service.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said a school building used for handing out humanitarian aid was among the targets hit by Russian bombs. Writing on X, he described the attack as "a completely terrible Russian attack," Nettavisen reports.
Why it matters
The strike is one of the deadliest single incidents reported in the region in recent months, and it lands at a delicate moment for diplomacy. It came one day after a six-day ceasefire at Oleshky in the Kherson region expired on Sunday, and ahead of planned talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi in November.
Zelensky framed the timing as significant. According to Nettavisen, he argued that the end of the Oleshky truce had opened a window in which Russia could have signalled that progress toward peace was possible, and that the killings sent the opposite message.
Repeated strikes and a shelter hit
According to Zelensky, Russia dropped a further nine bombs after the first attack. He said a shelter where civilians had gone to take cover was among the targets struck, Nettavisen reports.
The Ukrainian president also said Russia could not have been unaware that local residents collected emergency aid at the school every week. "The Russians cannot have avoided knowing that the local population receives help there every week," he wrote, according to Nettavisen. "This is further proof that Russia does not want any de-escalation."
He closed his statement by calling for a firm international response to Russia, Nettavisen reports.
The casualty figures come from Ukrainian sources and have not been independently verified. Nettavisen notes that the count was revised upward within hours of the first reports, a pattern common in the immediate aftermath of large-scale strikes.
What to watch: whether the death toll is revised again as rescue work continues, and whether the Abu Dhabi talks proceed as planned in November.
