At least 24 people were killed on Monday in a Russian attack on a school in Komyshuvakha, near the front line in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to a toll released by Ukraine’s Emergency Service. The building was being used to distribute humanitarian aid to civilians when it was hit by around ten aerial bombs.
The dead include two emergency responders and four police officers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy initially reported 18 fatalities, but the figure was later revised upward as rescue operations continued.
Zelenskyy said some of the bombs struck a shelter where people had taken refuge after the first impact. In a social media post, he condemned the attack and said Russian forces knew that residents remaining in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian assistance at the site every week.
Mykhailo Semikin, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, said many people were missing. Search and rescue teams continued working at the scene in an effort to find survivors and possible victims.
Zelenskyy described the attack as further evidence that Russia was not seeking de-escalation. He called on the international community to respond firmly to the strike.
Sources: elDiario.es.