A day after a Russian glide bomb attack killed at least 31 Ukrainians at a school distributing medicine and food, emergency workers braved armed Russian drones on Tuesday as they searched for dozens of people still missing, officials said.
It could take days to determine the exact toll: The threat of continued Russian strikes limits rescuers to short bursts of activity. But the attack was the deadliest against civilians in the southern Zaporizhzhia region during nearly five years of war, and could amount to one of the deadliest of the entire conflict.
Hours after the strike on Monday, the Trump administration’s peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, announced that talks among the United States, Russia and Ukraine would be held early next week in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.
The meeting, the first since February involving all three countries, would address postwar security arrangements and steps toward peace, Mr. Witkoff said. The Russian and Ukrainian governments confirmed on Tuesday that they would send negotiators to Abu Dhabi.
But even as the Trump administration tries to restart peace talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that Russia had made clear its intention to continue the war by striking the humanitarian hub in the village of Komyshuvakha on Monday.
Russia hit the village with at least nine glide bombs, each loaded with around 3,000 pounds of explosives, Ukrainian officials said. The attack served as a stark reminder of the limits of a rare local cease-fire in the neighboring Kherson region, which ended a day before.
That six-day truce allowed the evacuation of hundreds of civilians facing starvation in the besieged city of Oleshky, which Russia has occupied since 2022.
The school that was hit in the village of Komyshuvakha doubled as a bomb shelter. The attack trapped civilians and rescue workers inside.
At least two rescue workers and four police officers who arrived to treat the wounded after the first bomb landed were killed in the subsequent round of bombing, Ukraine’s emergency response services said. Russia has long used this tactic, known as a double tap, to target emergency workers responding to attacks.
On Tuesday, Russia continued to send armed drones over the village, Ukrainian officials said. About 50 people remained missing, they said.
“Every single hour, the rescue operations are being interrupted because of F.P.V. drone threats,” said Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of Zaporizhzhia’s regional military administration, referring to first-person-view drones. “It’s a cynical thing to do.”
Residents had visited the school each week to receive humanitarian aid, Mr. Zelensky said on social media. “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. The evacuation operation in Oleshky 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. But after the bombing of Komyshuvakha, he added, “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 managed to seize Zaporizhzhia’s regional capital, a city 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 school was built after the full-scale invasion with a reinforced concrete basement that was used as a shelter. But by the time the school was ready for class, the situation in Komyshuvakha had become grim. While the front line had not significantly shifted, drones could now fly much farther, leaving Komyshuvakha trapped in the middle of what is known as the “kill zone.”
Students attended the school for only a few months before officials evacuated all children from the area. Adults were urged to leave as well, but many hesitated for common reasons: They had animals to care for, or they feared being a burden in a new town away from their own land. Many of those who stayed were older or disabled.
Each Monday, they received aid from volunteers at the school. This week, when the first glide bomb struck the village, residents rushed to the school’s basement for shelter. But the heavier bombs that came next were designed to cause mass destruction, officials said.
The concrete could not withstand the impact, and many people hiding from the attack were buried underground.
Mr. Semikin rushed to the scene on Monday, stopping to take cover from Russian drones along the way, he said. A video he posted showed that little of the school remained. Behind him, smoke rose over piles of debris.
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