Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that 33 people died in Russian air attacks on a school-turned-humanitarian aid center and shelter in southeast Ukraine.
He said five people have been rescued and more than 50 are still believed to be trapped under rubble in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Vladimir Putin in Dec of 2020 Creative Commons Image
Putin in Meeting In January 2023 Creative Commons Photo
Three Days of Mourning to Take Place
Acting head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said earlier on Tuesday that 31 people died, while another five were injured and almost 50 remain missing.
The region will observe three days of mourning between November 3 and 5.
Residents traveled to the school on Monday for supplies despite classes not being held because of its proximity to the frontline.
On Monday, November 2, residents from nearby villages had traveled there to collect bread when the bombs fell, Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne said.
“The Russians knew that this was effectively a humanitarian facility,” Zelenskyy said via Telegram. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said that a FAB-3000 bomb directly hit the shelter.
Rescue Workers and Police Killed
Two rescue workers and four police officers died in the second attack. The two rescue workers were both aged 44 and were honored by the state for their service. Both of the deceased men were married with children. Another two workers were taken to a hospital.
Heavy smoke filled the building and limited the number of people and equipment that could be sent in, Ukraine’s national police said.
“A great tragedy has happened… It was a shelter that was supposed to protect our people, but they still miscalculated the power of such a bomb. These are beasts that destroy; nothing is left after them. I ask you to do something about this. If they are not stopped, they will simply destroy Ukraine,” Yuriy Karapetyan told local media.
“Civilians seeking support and first responders coming to the rescue must never be a target,” said Matthias Schmale, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.
Russian officials said their forces attacked Ukrainian military units near Komyshuvakha and two other settlements. The Russian Defense Ministry said up to 25 Ukrainian personnel were killed according to Russia’s defense ministry.
Local Truce Expires in Oleshky
On Sunday night, a local truce expired in Russian-occupied Oleshky and surrounding areas of the neighboring Kherson region.
The U.S. first lady brokered the pause to allow aid through and civilians to leave. “Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster,” she warned when announcing the deal at the White House.
Pope Leo XIV had called on President Vladimir Putin to agree to the pause.
The Pope said he hoped the brief agreement would “strengthen the desire for dialogue and lead to new concrete peace initiatives,” he said on Sunday, according to the Vatican transcript.
Zelenskyy said in Berlin that Kyiv had offered to prolong and expand the pause but that Moscow refused, instead carrying out “a new attack, new shelling, new strikes, new killings of our people.”
White House to Facilitate Three-way Abu Dhabi Talks
In a separate barrage, three Ukrainian power plants were knocked out.
Ukrainian energy company DTEK said all three plants had stopped producing electricity.
The White House said on Tuesday that Melania Trump will facilitate talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations and discuss the situation in Oleshky.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said they will mediate talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11 to discuss “post-war security arrangements, de-escalation, humanitarian efforts, and next steps toward peace.” The Kremlin said that Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, will represent Russia.
Talks have taken place on several previous occasions, to little avail. Russia continues to demand that Ukraine cede territory in eastern Ukraine that Moscow has failed to occupy.
Namely, Russia is demanding that Ukraine hand over the so-called “fortress belt” in the Donetsk Oblast.
This string of highly populated towns and cities, which mostly sit on an elevated part of the landscape, is key to Ukraine’s industrial and military strategy.
Kyiv’s constitution would also require a referendum to cede any land to be ceded to a foreign country, something there is little national appetite for.
About the Author: Georgia Gilholy
Georgia Gilholy is a journalist based in the United Kingdom who has been published in Newsweek, The Times of Israel, and the Spectator. Gilholy writes about international politics, culture, and education.
