At least 31 people have been confirmed dead after Russian forces dropped at least nine bombs on a school building being used as a civilian shelter and humanitarian aid centre in southeastern Ukraine.
Another 48 people remain unaccounted for following Monday’s attack on the building in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, local governor Mykhailo Semikin said.
The victims had taken refuge in a reinforced basement built with European Union funding and designed to withstand most attacks.
However, the force of the explosions reportedly caused the concrete structure to collapse and sparked a fire.
The building was constructed last year to allow classes to continue during the war. However, as fighting moved closer to the village, many residents left, and local authorities converted the facility into an administrative centre and humanitarian aid distribution hub.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as “utterly horrific”, saying it happened while humanitarian assistance was being distributed.
He said the strike was followed by another major Russian assault involving hundreds of drones and dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Zelensky also linked the timing of the attacks to the US congressional elections, saying Russia believed Washington would overlook the assault.
“Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies, otherwise Russia will never stop its missile strikes,” he said.
The attack also killed emergency responders and police officers who rushed to assist survivors.
Two first responders, identified locally as Denys Konovalenko and Oleksiy Sushchevsky, both aged 44, were killed after arriving at the scene of the initial strike.
The Ukrainian Police said four of its officers also died. They were identified as Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda, Mykhailo Romanov and Dmytro Besedin.
According to the police, the officers had been helping residents reach safety in an underground school when a second strike trapped people attempting to escape.
The attack followed a pattern described by Ukrainian authorities as a “double-tap” strike, in which a second attack is launched after emergency workers arrive at the scene of the first.
Semikin told Ukrainian national television on Tuesday that Russian forces used KAB-500 and FAB-3000 aerial bombs in the attack.
He described the FAB-3000 as a three-tonne bomb containing nearly 1.5 tonnes of explosive material, adding that such weapons are designed to destroy heavy concrete structures and bunkers.
The attack is among the deadliest reported strikes against civilians in Ukraine in recent months.
Other deadly incidents cited in the report include an attack on two civilian buses in Kramatorsk last month that killed at least 33 people, a drone strike near Kyiv in August that killed 38 people, and a missile barrage on Kyiv in July that left 33 people dead.
