The death toll after the Russian air strike on the underground school in Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia Oblast has risen to 42. The National Police of Ukraine announced this on Facebook on Thursday, 5 November, as reported by the news agency Ukrinform. It is the fourth day of rescue operations. “Komyshuvakha. Fourth day of emergency and rescue measures. Currently, 42 killed people have been recovered from the rubble. The identification of unrecognisable bodies is ongoing,” Ukrinform quotes from the statement. According to the police, up to 33 people may still be under the rubble. The work continues.
On Wednesday, 4 November, the death toll had still been given as 40, including four police officers. Russian troops had dropped several aerial bombs on the school on Monday, 2 November; the school was used as a humanitarian aid distribution point and as a “point of invincibility”. The attack hit people while aid supplies were being distributed there.
Nine bombs, a second strike on the shelter
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russian aircraft first dropped a bomb on the school during the morning of 2 November. As residents, community representatives, police officers and rescue workers helped the injured, according to his account, nine more aerial bombs followed on the shelter in which people had taken cover. On 4 November, the police published bodycam footage of a killed officer showing him urging people to take shelter before the second strike. According to the police, civilians and rescue workers were already in the shelter when it was hit.
According to the governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Mykhailo Semikin, the attack destroyed a gymnasium, an outbuilding and a fire engine, and the school building was damaged. “The scale of the tragedy is terrible. Behind every number is a human life, a family that has lost relatives or is still waiting for news,” Semikin said, according to the Kyiv Independent. According to the State Emergency Service (DSNS), the dead also include the two 44-year-old rescue workers Denys Konovalenko and Oleksii Sushchevskyi.
Identification ongoing, relatives give DNA samples
The recovery work is difficult. According to the police and regional authorities on 4 November, 59 people were reported missing at that time, and up to 38 could still be under the rubble. Some of the missing may be among the recovered, not yet identified dead. According to the police, twelve victims had been identified by then, and relatives are giving DNA samples.
According to Ivan Fedorov, co-chair of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defence Council, Russia first used guided FAB-500 aerial bombs, later heavier FAB-3000 bombs weighing around three tonnes. Their destructive power far exceeds what underground schools in Ukraine are designed to withstand, Fedorov said, according to the New Voice of Ukraine. Komyshuvakha lies about 20 kilometres from the front line and has been considered a front-line location since November 2025.
On 4 November, Zelensky had spoken of an “extremely terrible” and “extremely difficult” rescue operation that was continuing under constant danger of further Russian attacks. At the same time, he criticised what he considered the weak international response to the attack. Ukraine now needs support with air defence.
Earlier coverage: Russian strike on Komyshuvakha: death toll rises to 40
