Nov 4 (Reuters) – The death toll from a Russian bombing of an aid distribution point in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region on Monday has risen to 37, with dozens missing, officials said, in one of the deadliest strikes on civilians this year.
Rescuers were still searching for survivors in the rubble of the former school in the village of Komyshuvakha, the acting head of the Regional Military Administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said on Wednesday.
Ivan Fedorov, the co-head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council, wrote on Telegram that 59 people were missing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school building as people arrived to collect aid, then struck the shelter with more bombs.
Classes have long since been suspended at the school because of its proximity to the front line, but it served as a shelter and handed out humanitarian aid every Monday, Zelenskiy said. Two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead, emergency services said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said the attack targeted Ukrainian military units around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements, and that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were killed.
Russia and Ukraine both deny deliberately targeting civilians.
The strike occurred a day after a six-day ceasefire to evacuate civilians from the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky expired. The truce, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump, allowed nearly 800 people to be evacuated, according to the first lady. Zelenskiy awarded Melania Trump a state honour for her role.
The United States will bring together delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 to discuss ending the conflict, postwar security agreements and de-escalation, US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday.
(Reporting by Lina Golovnya; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Philippa Fletcher)
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