At least 33 dead and 50 missing after Russian bombing of a humanitarian aid center in Ukraine

Komyshuvakha, Ukraine.— At least 33 people were killed and 50 others remained missing on Tuesday after Monday's Russian bombing of a school and a shelter in Komyshuvakha, in the Zaporizhzhia region, which were being used as a humanitarian aid distribution center, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said.

The people were in a reinforced basement, recently built with European Union funding and designed to withstand most attacks, but the force of the bombs caused the concrete structure to collapse and sparked a fire, according to CNN en Español. The shelter had been built last year to allow classes to continue during the war, although it no longer operates as a school and local authorities use it as an administrative center and aid point.

The attack followed a double-tap pattern: Russian forces launched a first wave of guided bombs and struck again when emergency services arrived. Among the dead are four police officers and two rescuers, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a statement that the attack came just as civilians had gathered to receive humanitarian aid. “The time and place of the humanitarian aid distribution were publicly known,” said Danielle Bell, the mission's chief, who warned that the attack appears to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack “absolutely horrifying” and noted that it came just before Russia launched another massive offensive with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. According to Zelensky, in that overnight wave Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a combined attack injured at least 62 people, damaged a medical facility and forced the transfer of more than 200 patients to other hospitals, local authorities said. With dozens of people still unaccounted for, authorities warn the death toll may keep rising as rescue work continues in the rubble.

Photo: Reuters

Source: CNN en Español