Death toll from Russia's 'double-tap' bombing of a Ukrainian aid centre rises to 29, with 48 still missing
Rubble-strewn ground at Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian drones repeatedly forced rescue teams to suspend operations throughout the night after the initial strikes.Volodymyr Zelenskyy's post on X showing the aftermath of the Komyshuvakha attack, which he condemned as a "vile terrorist strike", warning that Russia could not have been unaware civilians gathered at the school weekly to collect aid.
Russia launched nine 3,000kg guided bombs on the village of Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia, striking a school used for weekly aid distribution just as civilians arrived to collect food, then hitting the shelter where survivors had taken cover in a deliberate 'double-tap' strike. The attack came the day after a six-day ceasefire in nearby Kherson — brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump — expired.
Among the 29 confirmed dead were rescuers Denys Konovalenko and Oleksy Sushchevsky, both 44, and four police officers who died searching for survivors.
Zelenskyy called it a 'vile terrorist strike', adding Russia had timed a wider overnight barrage — 289 drones, 17 ballistic and 59 cruise missiles — to coincide with US elections.
Ukraine's military accused Russia of using the Melania Trump ceasefire to rotate troops, deliver ammunition and expand anti-drone defences before resuming attacks.
