According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at least 18 people were killed in a Russian air strike on the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region. At least five more people were injured, Zelensky announced on Monday, 2 November, on X and on Telegram. According to Zelensky, the bombs hit a school that was being used for humanitarian purposes while humanitarian aid was being distributed there.
“Since this morning, the settlement has been hit by aerial bombs several times,” Zelensky wrote. A total of more than ten bombs were dropped, WELT reports, citing the president. After the first attack, nine more bombs were dropped on a shelter where people had sought refuge; according to Zelensky, one struck directly in an air-raid shelter. Rescue work was ongoing, and searches were continuing for further victims. The situation on the ground was extremely difficult, the president said.
According to dpa, on which the Berliner Zeitung relies, Komyshuvakha lies about 25 kilometres east of the city of Zaporizhzhia and a good dozen kilometres from the front line. The region near the front has repeatedly been the target of heavy Russian air strikes for months. In an attack on the major city of Zaporizhzhia in mid-October, 23 people were killed, including four minors, according to WELT.
Zelensky accused Russia of deliberate bombardment. “Russia could not have failed to notice that the residents remaining in Komyshuvakha receive humanitarian aid there every week,” he wrote. The affected building had regularly been a point of contact for the remaining population. “With these murders, Russia has sent an absolutely contrary signal – Russia is counting on more murders,” the head of state wrote, demanding a worldwide “strong and harsh” reaction.
Earlier, on Sunday, a six-day ceasefire in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson had expired. It had come into force on 27 October and was intended to enable an evacuation operation from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky. According to the US government, the agreement was mediated by US First Lady Melania Trump; according to its statements, nearly 800 people were brought to safety during the ceasefire, as Reuters reports. According to Reuters, the Ukrainian General Staff accused Russia of having used the pause in fighting for military reinforcement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that he had no concrete information about troop movements; however, adjustments to one’s own positions during a ceasefire were “common practice”. Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on Monday, according to Reuters, that both sides had fulfilled their obligations under the humanitarian operation.
Figures on casualty numbers and details of fighting come from Ukrainian or Russian authorities and cannot be independently verified.
