This story updates Awaaz Punjab's earlier Tuesday report, when Ukrainian officials put the Komyshuvakha toll at 29 dead with 48 still missing. President Zelenskiy has since put the confirmed toll at at least 33, with about 50 people still unaccounted for under the rubble. Read the earlier report: toll at 29, 48 missing
KYIV/BERLIN, November 3 — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said at least 33 people had been killed on Monday when Russia twice bombed a school being used for aid distribution in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, Reuters reported. About 50 people were still believed to be buried under the rubble, he said, speaking at a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
Dozens of people were killed when Russia dropped at least nine bombs on the school building, Zelenskiy said on Tuesday, describing it as "one of the deadliest attacks of this war", the Associated Press reported. Local governor Mykhailo Semikin said the building was being used as a shelter and a humanitarian aid distribution centre. The toll has climbed in stages since Monday — 18 confirmed at first, then 26, then 29 earlier on Tuesday — as rescuers worked through the wreckage.
Source: Associated Press
A reinforced shelter that still collapsed
Semikin said those inside were in a newly built, EU-funded reinforced basement designed to withstand most strikes, but the massive force of the bombs caused the concrete structure to collapse and a fire broke out, AP reported. The shelter was built last year in an effort to keep classes going during wartime, but many civilians have since left as the fighting drew closer to the village, and it is not currently used as a school; local authorities use it as an administrative centre and humanitarian hub.
Source: Associated Press
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack took place just as civilians from the area gathered to receive humanitarian aid. "The timing and location of the humanitarian distribution was well publicized," said Danielle Bell, the head of the mission. "Either the Russian armed forces knew that there was a humanitarian distribution taking place, or they failed to take the most basic steps to find out what was happening in this village they were planning to attack. In either case, this attack seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."
Source: Associated Press
Russia's account — a claim, not an established fact
Moscow said its forces had targeted Ukrainian military units in areas around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region, Reuters reported. In a statement on Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry said up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed, while 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station were also destroyed. That account conflicts with the Ukrainian and UN description of a civilian aid distribution, and it has not been independently established.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
What is solid
- Zelenskiy put the confirmed Komyshuvakha toll at at least 33 on Tuesday, with about 50 people still unaccounted for (Reuters, AP).
- The building was a school used as a shelter and humanitarian aid centre, with an EU-funded reinforced basement that collapsed under the bombs (AP, citing governor Semikin).
- The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission said the aid distribution's timing and location were well publicised (AP).
What is only claimed
- Russia's defence ministry says its forces targeted Ukrainian military units around Komyshuvakha and killed up to 25 servicemen — a claim that conflicts with the Ukrainian and UN account and has not been independently established.
Zelenskiy in Berlin: "such terror must be noticed and stopped"
At the Berlin press conference, Zelenskiy said the attack showed Moscow was intent on killing people instead of building on the humanitarian ceasefire in and around Oleshky, the Russian-controlled town where a brief truce had been agreed with the help of US first lady Melania Trump and which ended less than two days earlier, Reuters reported. "It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections. The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them. But such terror must be noticed and stopped," Zelenskiy said, appealing to allies for additional air defences and saying Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
Merz said the Abu Dhabi talks were "the right step" to help bring fighting to an end and that Europe must be part of the process. "But I would also say it is important for Russia to finally engage in serious negotiations on a ceasefire and a subsequent peace agreement. I have not seen any sign of this so far," he added, according to Reuters. Germany has become Ukraine's largest supporter since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency last year and withdrew US financial support, Reuters noted.
Source: Reuters via SRN News
The bombing was followed within hours by one of the war's largest overnight barrages on Ukraine's energy system — 289 drones and 76 missiles in all, knocking three of DTEK's five thermal power plants offline, a separate attack Awaaz Punjab reported earlier on Tuesday. Read the earlier report: Russia's energy barrage knocks out power across Ukraine
Rescue work at Komyshuvakha continues, and with about 50 people still unaccounted for the toll may rise again. Diplomatically, the European Commission hosts a meeting on Ukraine in Brussels on Wednesday, November 4, with the US, NATO and European allies to discuss a prosperity plan and security guarantees, NATO holds further consultations on Thursday, and the US-brokered trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States are scheduled for Abu Dhabi on November 10-11.