29 dead and 48 missing after Russian strike hits aid facility in southern Ukraine
A wave of overnight missile and drone attacks also targeted power plants, hospitals, and refineries across multiple regions.
By Chioma Kuznetsov ·
A Russian strike on a humanitarian aid site in southern Ukraine killed 29 people on Tuesday, leaving 48 others missing as rescuers searched through rubble.
The attack occurred in the village of Komyushuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region, where a destroyed aid facility and shelter now sits as a cratered blast site. Rescuers and volunteers worked to locate survivors under the debris, while recovery teams carried out more bodies wrapped in white plastic sheeting. Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the region's military administration, described the incident as one of the worst tragedies in the area since the full-scale war began, noting the high number of civilian victims.
The strike was part of a larger overnight barrage that hit nine regions. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles. He noted that the timing coincided with U.S. elections, stating that the attacks were a signal intended to be missed but that Ukraine needed to defend its skies to stop the terror.
Russian forces used bunker-busting bombs containing nearly 1.5 tons of explosives in the Komyushuvakha attack. Semikin confirmed that the dead included four police officers and two rescue workers, while at least five others were injured. Three days of mourning were declared in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Other areas sustained heavy damage from the coordinated strikes. In the Kharkiv region, a combined missile and drone attack wounded at least 62 people. Local officials reported that a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district was damaged, shattering windows in four apartment buildings and damaging vehicles. Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration, said more than 200 patients were transferred to other facilities.
In the Dnipro area, rescuers pulled a woman alive from the rubble on Tuesday morning following an attack that killed one person and wounded 17. Oleksandr Hanzha, the regional military administration head, confirmed that an outpatient clinic and a hospital were damaged, requiring patient transfers.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated that it shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones were fired toward the capital. A Ukrainian drone attack also wounded two employees at an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, causing infrastructure damage according to regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev. Meanwhile, rolling blackouts were instituted in parts of Russian-occupied Crimea after attacks on energy infrastructure.
