KOMYSHUVAKHA, Ukraine — At least 26 people were killed on Monday when Russian aerial bombs struck a humanitarian aid distribution centre and a neighbouring shelter in this village in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said — an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky called “utterly horrific.” The dead include two emergency-service rescuers and four police officers. Five people were injured and were being treated in hospital, among them two rescue workers, and 27 people were initially reported missing, with rescuers still searching the rubble.
Nine Bombs On A School That Fed The Village
The target was a local school where humanitarian supplies were distributed to residents every week. Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Mykhailo Semikin, said at least nine aerial bombs, each weighing 3,000 kilograms, hit the village. Zelensky, in his nightly video address, said Russian forces first dropped bombs on the school, which was being used for humanitarian needs, and then struck again — more air bombs, this time on the shelter where people had taken cover. The school held no classes: the village lies close to the front line. As night fell, emergency responders searched the collapsed buildings by torchlight, in photographs and video posted online by local officials. Regina Kharchenko, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia city council, said 27 people were missing. Efforts to rescue people on Monday evening were hindered as Russian drones launched additional attacks in the area that had been bombed, Semikin said.
A Toll That Rose Through The Night
Zelensky initially put the death toll at 18. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) then reported 24 people confirmed dead, including the two rescuers and four police officers, and in his late video address on Monday the president said the number of confirmed fatalities had risen to 26. Ukraine’s ArmyInform service later reported a higher figure still — 29 dead, with 48 missing — which had not been reconciled with the emergency service’s count at the time of publication. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the bombing. The Russian military has not publicly commented on the attack. A full day of mourning was declared across the Zaporizhzhia region for Tuesday.
Talks Resume Next Week
The bombing came as diplomacy moved on a separate track. United States special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume next week: delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, on November 10 and 11 to discuss ending the war, post-war security arrangements and de-escalation. The Kremlin has said no further missions of the kind discussed recently were being planned “at the moment.” For the residents of Komyshuvakha, the immediate fact is simpler and heavier: the place where the village collected its aid every week, and the shelter beside it, were bombed in succession, and the search of the rubble was continuing under the threat of further drone attacks.
Komyshuvakha — In Short
At least 26 people, including two rescuers and four police officers, were killed on Monday when at least nine 3,000kg Russian aerial bombs hit a school used as a weekly humanitarian aid distribution point and a neighbouring shelter in Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said. Five people were injured and 27 were initially reported missing; rescue work was hindered by further Russian drone attacks. President Zelensky called the attack “utterly horrific.” Russia’s military has not commented. US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to resume in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11.
Sources: BBC News, November 3, 2026; The Guardian, November 3, 2026; Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) statements, November 2–3, 2026; President Volodymyr Zelensky’s nightly video address, November 2, 2026; Zaporizhzhia regional administration statements, November 2–3, 2026.
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