55 killed in Ukrainian village as Russian strikes hit rescue crews
Emergency workers suffered damage during a second attack in Komyshuvakha, where 45 people remain missing and nuclear power concerns persist.
By Amir Navarro ·
At least 55 people died in the village of Komyshuvakha in southern Ukraine following a series of Russian air strikes that targeted both civilians and emergency response teams, authorities confirmed Monday. The attacks occurred near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region and have left 45 individuals listed as missing as of Sunday afternoon, according to Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the regional military administration.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that a Russian drone struck rescue equipment on Sunday, damaging specialized gear while workers responded to a former school and a nearby shelter. Those structures had already been hit by multiple guided bombs earlier, while residents waited for humanitarian aid. No personnel were injured in the Sunday strike, but the service noted the damage to their operational capacity.
Many recovered bodies remain unidentified, and DNA analysis is ongoing. Mykola Krasnov, a 72-year-old resident, told the Associated Press on Saturday that he was still searching for his wife, who had gone to collect aid when a three-ton bomb fell. He noted that she was not found in the morgue or alive, and that rescuers had given him no updates.
Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of a pattern of conducting multiple strikes in quick succession at the same location to hit emergency crews responding to the initial blast. On Saturday, police officers and relatives gathered in Zaporizhzhia for a farewell ceremony for six officers killed in the strikes, including four who died near the former school. Andrii Khomenko, a police lieutenant colonel who worked with the victims, stated that the enemy deliberately gathered civilians in one place before launching the attacks.
Yurii Karapetian, whose wife Natalia was killed while distributing bread in the shelter, described the pain as unbearable. He urged the international community to act, warning that if Russia is not stopped, it will not stop at Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on emergency crews absolute cynicism and brutality in a post on X on Sunday.
Separately, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced Sunday that France and other European representatives would join U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Barrot said France would ensure Europe’s voice was heard, though he did not specify which officials would attend or if they would participate directly in negotiations.
Zelenskyy also reported that strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region left more than 600,000 people without power. He stated that Russia launched 115 missiles, 1,900 guided aerial bombs, and over 3,000 drones in the past week, many produced this year. He called for sanctions on the entities involved in their production. Additionally, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lost its external power supply on Sunday after a damaged line was disconnected, forcing reliance on backup diesel generators.
Russian forces launched 164 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, shooting down 137 of them according to the Ukrainian Air Force. A subsequent strike on a residential neighborhood in Dnipro killed one person and injured three, local administration head Oleksandr Hanzha said. The Russian defense ministry claimed it destroyed 142 Ukrainian drones during the same period.
