Russia launches new strikes on Ukraine after attack on aid point that killed 29 people

New wave of strikes after 29 people were killed

Russia launched a new wave of overnight strikes on Ukraine a day after the bombardment of a humanitarian aid distribution point that killed at least 29 people, AFP reported, citing Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strikes 'terrorism'. The previous day, Russian bombs destroyed a former school turned into a humanitarian aid distribution point in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region. Zelensky warned that 'people are still under the rubble' and that rescue operations are continuing 'as far as the security situation allows'.

Strike on a hospital in Kharkiv and infrastructure in Dnipro

According to Zelensky, Russia also struck a hospital in Kharkiv, wounding 73 people and damaging the cardiology department where people were receiving treatment. Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said 200 patients had to be evacuated. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to its head Vladyslav... according to its head Oleksandr Hanzha, a strike on critical infrastructure in Dnipro wounded 17 people. Russia's Defense Ministry said it carried out a 'massive strike' on energy facilities across Ukraine and on port infrastructure in the Odesa region. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported the destruction of nearly 500 drones flying toward the capital region.

Circumstances of the strike on Komyshuvakha

The attack on Komyshuvakha occurred several hours after the end of a rare ceasefire in the Kherson region — the longest since the war began in February 2022. The ceasefire, which was reported to have been brokered with the mediation of US First Lady Melania Trump, allowed a humanitarian mission and the evacuation of residents from Alyoshky, occupied by Russia, both to Ukrainian-controlled territory and to Crimea, annexed by Moscow. Acting head of the Zaporizhzhia region Mykhailo Semikin said on Tuesday that 48 people are considered missing. Zelensky said the Russians 'could not have failed to know' that residents received humanitarian aid there every week, and that after the first strike with an aerial bomb came a 'double strike' with nine more bombs on the shelter where people were hiding. According to AFP, an unnamed senior Ukrainian official said on Sunday that Russia had rejected the Ukrainian proposal to extend the ceasefire.

Talks and Kyiv's reaction

The strikes came a week before the resumption of Russia–Ukraine–US talks in Abu Dhabi, at which Washington is seeking an end to the war that has been going on for more than four years. 'It is highly telling that all of this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections. The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them,' Zelensky said. 'But such terrorism must be noticed and stopped.' The ceasefire in the Kherson region had earlier raised hopes of possible progress toward a settlement, but the new strikes destroyed them: 'After the Alyoshky ceasefire there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible,' Zelensky said on Monday. 'With these killings Russia is sending a completely opposite signal: Russia is counting on new killings. There must be a response to this.' According to AFP, the Kremlin has repeatedly stated its intention to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine; the US-led talks have so far not produced a breakthrough. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and France announced that about 2,800 troops from 10 European countries will hold this month in Poland the first exercises of a new multinational force — it has no offensive mission and is to be deployed only after an agreement on a ceasefire.