At least 24 people were killed on Monday in a Russian glide bomb attack on a humanitarian hub in southern Ukraine, officials said. It was a stark reminder of the limits of a rare local cease-fire in neighboring Kherson that ended only a day before. Russia launched at least nine glide bombs, each loaded with around 3,000 pounds of explosives, at the village of Komyshuvakha in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said. At least one struck a school that doubled as a bomb shelter and humanitarian hub, trapping civilians and rescue workers inside. Local residents visited the school each week to receive humanitarian aid, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on the social media app Telegram. “This is yet another proof that Russia does not want any de-escalation or real justice,” he wrote.
The temporary cease-fire in the neighboring Kherson region lasted from Tuesday through Sunday. It allowed the evacuation of hundreds of civilians facing starvation in the besieged city of Oleshky, which has been occupied by Russia since 2022. The operation raised hopes for further cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow to ensure the safety of civilians near the front line. It was the first truce of its kind since Russia’s 2022 invasion. The deal, brokered in part by the American first lady, Melania Trump, offered “a moment when the next steps could have shown that a move towards peace was possible,” Mr. Zelensky wrote after the bombing on Komyshuvakha. “With these killings, Russia is sending a completely opposite signal — Russia is counting on further killings.”
Zaporizhzhia is one of four Ukrainian regions that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia claimed to have annexed in 2022, though his forces never seized the regional capital of the same name. The front line stretches across the region and fierce fighting has continued for years, including around Komyshuvakha, where Russian drones have tormented civilians who stayed behind.
The death toll Monday was still rising, and included two rescue workers and four police officers who rushed to respond to earlier strikes and were killed when the bombardment continued, Ukraine’s emergency response services wrote on social media. Russia has long used this tactic, known as a double tap, to target emergency workers responding to attacks. Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of Zaporizhzhia’s regional military administration, visited the scene in a protective vest and posted a video showing the scale of destruction. Little was left of the building he said had been used as a community center. Behind him, smoke rose over piles of debris. The Russian bombs fell on the village at the exact moment local residents had gathered to receive aid, he said. By evening, many people remained trapped under the rubble, with more than 20 still missing.
But the operation to find them was suspended, he said, when Russian drones continued to attack the area.
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