Russian strikes kill at least 26 in southern Ukraine village

“After an initial aerial bombardment, there was a double strike with nine additional bombs, specifically targeting the shelter where people had taken refuge,” he described on social media.

According to the president, the Russians “could not ignore that this building was where, each week, the remaining residents of Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid.”

Images released by Ukrainian emergency services show a building reduced to smoking rubble, with rescuers working at the site.

“Among the victims are a police officer and two rescuers from the State Emergency Service,” the regional governor stated. “Five people were injured. Twenty-seven others are considered missing.”

The bombings occurred after Moscow resumed fighting in the neighboring Kherson region, following a local truce negotiated to evacuate the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, which was largely respected.

“After the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, there was a moment when one could believe that new steps towards progress towards peace were possible. With this massacre, Russia is sending a completely opposite signal: it is betting on new murders,” Volodymyr Zelensky commented.

“It is further proof that Russia wants neither de-escalation nor true justice,” he estimated.