Russian bombing of Ukrainian aid centre kills 24 people

Ukraine’s president calls attack in Zaporizhia further proof that Russia does not want any ‌kind of de-escalation or justice.

A Russian ⁠bomb attack on an aid centre in Ukraine has killed 24 people, Ukraine’s emergency services agency said.

The strikes destroyed a school used as a humanitarian centre in the village of Komyshuvakha in the southeastern region of Zaporizhia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday. Five other people are reported to have been injured.

“After the first air strike, there was a repeat strike with nine more bombs, ⁠directly on the shelter ⁠where people were gathered,” Ukraine’s president wrote on Telegram.

“The Russians could not have been unaware that ⁠every week residents who have remained in ⁠Komyshuvakha were receiving assistance ⁠aid right there. This is yet further proof that Russia does not want any ‌kind of de-escalation, any real justice.”

Footage posted by Ukrainian emergency services showed a building reduced to piles of smouldering rubble. Rescuers were shown working at the site.

Among those killed were a police officer and two State Emergency Service rescuers, regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin reported on Telegram.

He added that 27 altogether are considered missing.

“After the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “With these killings, Russia is sending an entirely opposite signal: Russia is counting on more killings.”

Elsewhere in Ukraine, emergency services reported that drone strikes injured 12 people in the eastern Kharkiv region and damaged a refrigeration facility, greenhouses and residential buildings.

Five people were also reported injured in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, where a warehouse was targeted and homes were damaged.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said that it shot down 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, while the head of Russia’s Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, reported local air defences had repelled an aerial attack, without giving further details.