Latvia has requested a special meeting of the UN Security Council over the Russian attack on an aid distribution point in the Zaporizhzhia region. Latvia’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braže announced this on Tuesday, 3 November, on the platform X, as reported among others by the Kyiv Post and the news agency Interfax-Ukraine. In November Latvia holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the first time in its history and can thus help shape the body’s agenda.
Braže wrote: “Latvia has requested a special meeting of the UN Security Council after horrific Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine, including on an aid distribution centre in Komyshuvakha, where at least 26 innocent people were killed.” The figure of 26 victims in her post is now out of date: according to the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, 31 deaths have now been confirmed.
According to the Kyiv Post, Braže gave no indication of a possible date. If the meeting were to take place, the attack would be presented to all 15 members of the Security Council – including Russia, which as a permanent member with veto power can block final resolutions. Only a few days earlier, after earlier Russian attacks in Ukraine with at least 25 dead and more than 110 injured, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had called for a separate emergency meeting.
Number of missing rises to 58
The situation on the ground remains unclear. According to the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Mykhailo Semikin, 31 deaths had been confirmed by Tuesday evening, 20 of them not yet identified. The number of missing grew over the course of the day: in the morning Semikin had still spoken of almost 50, in the evening he named 58. According to the Kyiv Post, five injured people are receiving medical care, and doctors are fighting for some of them, the newspaper reports.
According to Semikin, on Tuesday evening he chaired a meeting of the regional coordination staff, in which rescue workers, police, the military and other services work together. According to the Kyiv Post, it was announced there that the region would cover the funeral costs for every family that has lost a relative; the necessary formalities would also be fully supported. Semikin said: “We will not leave any family alone with their grief.”
The clearing of the rubble is progressing only slowly and is dangerous. Russian forces had significantly stepped up drone attacks in the area, so that rescue workers repeatedly had to interrupt the search during air alerts, the Kyiv Post reports. Moscow is known for so-called double-tap attacks, in which the same place is struck a second time while rescue operations are under way. According to the Kyiv Post, at least four police officers and two rescue workers were killed in Monday’s attacks.
Nine glide bombs on school and shelter
According to the Kyiv Post, the Russian army used nine glide bombs (KAB) against the school and its shelter. In the school in Komyshuvakha, humanitarian aid was distributed weekly. Semikin had described the attack as the deadliest Russian strike against the Zaporizhzhia region since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
The sources differ on the timing of the attack: the news agency Interfax-Ukraine and report.az give 2 November, while the Kyiv Post speaks of “only a day before” its report of 3 November. The casualty figures from the authorities refer to the military administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, not to Russian figures.
Editorial assessment: Latvia’s move in the Security Council is likely above all to be a public signal. A condemnation or sanction fails because of Russia’s veto – but the meeting can document the attack before all members and increase pressure on Moscow. What remains decisive on the ground is the question of how many of the 58 missing can still be recovered while drones repeatedly stop the search.
Earlier coverage: Air strike on Komyshuvakha: 31 dead, nearly 50 missing
