Russian strikes kill 26 at Ukraine aid centre, Kyiv says

KYIV | 03-11-2026 : At least 26 people were killed when Russian aerial bombs struck a humanitarian aid centre in southern Ukraine on Monday, Ukrainian officials said, according to BBC News. The attack hit a school being used for aid distribution in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, where rescuers continued searching through rubble.

Al Jazeera also reported that multiple Russian strikes on the school killed at least 26 people. The Russian military had not publicly commented on the attack, according to the BBC.

Death toll rises during rescue operation

Regional head Mykhailo Semikin said at least nine aerial bombs, each weighing 3,000kg, struck the village. He reported five people injured and said 27 had initially been listed as missing, BBC News reported. The supplied reporting does not establish how many of those initially missing remained unaccounted for after the death toll was updated.

President Volodymyr Zelensky first reported 18 deaths. Ukraine’s state emergency service, DSNS, subsequently confirmed 24 fatalities, including two rescuers and four police officers. In his late-Monday video address, Zelensky raised the number of people known to have died to 26, according to the BBC.

Zelensky said the initial strike hit the school used for humanitarian purposes and that a subsequent attack struck a place where people had taken shelter. Video he shared showed a large crater and emergency teams searching the debris, BBC News reported.

Semikin said people were still beneath the rubble. He also reported that Russian drone activity in the area had repeatedly forced rescue crews to suspend their work. Authorities declared Tuesday a day of mourning throughout the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the BBC.

Ukraine condemns attack on aid site

Zelensky said residents who remained in Komyshuvakha collected humanitarian assistance at the site every Monday. He argued that Russian forces would have known about that regular distribution, according to BBC News. That assertion was attributed to the Ukrainian president; the supplied reports contain no Russian response.

The president described the attack as evidence against Russia’s willingness to reduce hostilities. He contrasted it with a recent joint Russian-Ukrainian operation that evacuated civilians from Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, during a temporary ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, the BBC reported.

Peace talks scheduled in Abu Dhabi

The attack comes ahead of planned negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on X that the three countries’ teams were due to resume talks in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, the following week, according to BBC News.

Witkoff said the agenda would include security arrangements after the war, reducing hostilities, humanitarian work and further steps towards peace. US negotiators were also scheduled to meet European and Nato officials in Brussels during the current week, the BBC reported.

BBC News said no major breakthrough was expected at the talks. It reported that Moscow had intensified attacks since negotiations were suspended in February, while Kyiv had nearly exhausted its supply of Western-provided missile interceptors. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Sources: BBC News; Al Jazeera.