Russian bombing of Ukraine aid centre kills at least 29 people
“The Russians struck first just as people were arriving,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, describing a Russian bombing of a Ukrainian aid centre that killed at least 29 people, Al Jazeera reported.
The attack targeted a school in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region that had been repurposed as a shelter and a weekly distribution point for humanitarian aid, according to Zelenskyy. Acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin confirmed the death toll reached 29 on Tuesday, noting that 48 people remain missing. Search and rescue operations have faced interruptions due to ongoing Russian drone attacks in the area, Semikin told the BBC.
The Russians carried out a complex, massive attack overnight, aimed primarily at our critical infrastructure. And the main target was energy – power generation facilities and substations – in the Odesa, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv, and… pic.twitter.com/HgMtbMPVC6
Casualties and damage in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv
Among the confirmed dead are four police officers and two members of a rescue crew, according to Ukraine’s emergency services. The BBC reported that the strike involved at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs. While Zelenskyy initially reported 18 deaths, subsequent updates from the state emergency service and regional officials raised the confirmed count as rescuers searched through the rubble.
The violence extended to other regions on Monday. In the Kharkiv region, a combined strike of missiles and drones injured at least 62 people and damaged a medical facility, residential buildings, and greenhouses, according to The Hill. In the Black Sea port of Odesa, five people were injured when a warehouse was hit, NBC News reported. In the Dnipro area, local authorities told The Hill that rescuers pulled a woman alive from the debris following an attack that killed one person and wounded 17 others.
At least 13 energy objects in 9 regions of Ukraine were hit overnight as a result of Russia’s massive drone and missile strike. Putin is deliberately targeting civilian energy, power and heating, hoping to create unbearable conditions for the people ahead of winter. This is one… pic.twitter.com/jYJOTCzHmg
Diplomatic efforts in Abu Dhabi
The strikes occurred as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff announced that delegations from Ukraine and Russia are scheduled to meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on November 10 and 11. Witkoff stated on social media that the discussions will focus on “post-war security agreements, de-escalation, humanitarian measures, and ending the war.”
According to Al Jazeera, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to this round of three-way talks following a meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg on October 21. These negotiations represent the first U.S.-mediated talks since February. Witkoff added that U.S. negotiators also intend to meet with European and NATO officials in Brussels this week.
Zelenskyy argued that the Komyshuvakha attack undermines potential for peace, noting that Russia had a recent opportunity for humanitarian cooperation following a mission in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, which was brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.
Hackers disrupt emergency alert systems in both nations
The Russian Ministry of Defence reported shooting down 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, though The Hill noted conflicting reports from the same period citing 856 drones. In Russia’s Samara region, Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said air defenses repelled an attack, while independent media outlets reported that Ukrainian drones had targeted a major oil transport hub in the area.
We have intel that Russia is preparing a new massive attack on our country – primarily targeting energy and logistics. The assumption is basically that tomorrow the world will be watching the American midterms, and what is happening here in Ukraine, along with our difficulties… pic.twitter.com/eAqz3R2ape
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, used the Monday attack to call for continued international isolation of Russia, writing on X that the country “deserves condemnation, isolation, and consequences, not a return to international respectability.”