Ukraine Death Toll Reaches 31 After Russian Strike on Aid Site in Zaporizhzhia

The number of people killed in a Russian attack on a humanitarian aid facility in southern Ukraine reached 31 on Tuesday, with more than 45 residents still missing. The strike hit Komyushuvakha, a village in the Zaporizhzhia region, where civilians had gathered to receive supplies. Rescue teams and volunteers continued to search the cratered remains of the destroyed shelter and aid facility, pulling bodies from the rubble wrapped in white plastic sheeting.

Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the regional military administration, described the event as one of the worst tragedies for civilian victims in the area since the start of the full-scale war. He stated that the scale of the tragedy is terrifying. The dead included four police officers and two rescue workers, while at least five others were wounded. Three days of mourning were declared in the Zaporizhzhia region following the use of Russian bunker-busting bombs that contained nearly 1.5 tons of explosives.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles across nine Ukrainian regions. He noted that the timing of the barrage coincided with U.S. elections, asserting that Moscow believed Washington would not notice the signal. Zelenskyy urged international partners to help Ukraine defend its skies to stop the missile strikes.

In the northeast region of Kharkiv, a combined missile and drone attack wounded at least 62 people. The strike damaged a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district, shattered windows in four apartment buildings, and damaged vehicles. Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration, said that more than 200 patients were transferred to other medical facilities. In the Dnipro area, rescuers recovered a woman alive from the rubble after an attack killed one person and wounded 17, damaging an outpatient clinic and a hospital.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said Moscow carried out 20 strikes on power plants and energy infrastructure in 10 regions overnight. Ukrainian power utility DTEK reported that three of its power plants halted operations due to intense damage, though no injuries were reported. Rolling blackouts were instituted in the south, west, and east of Russian-occupied Crimea following attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Moscow-installed officials.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated that it shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight. Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said that 493 drones were fired toward the Russian capital. In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev reported that a Ukrainian drone attack wounded two employees at an oil refinery and damaged the facility's infrastructure.