Police Say 42 People Were Killed in a Russian Strike on a Ukrainian Aid Site

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News

By Jerome London

Updated 46 seconds ago, November 5, 2026

As many as 33 people could still be under the rubble of a Ukrainian aid hub where Russian strikes killed 42 people on November 2, regional police said Thursday. Rescue teams in Komyshuvakha, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, were still searching the site and identifying the dead.

A rescuer sweeps with a drone detector through the rubble of a school-turned-aid hub in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, on November 4, 2026, days after a Russian airstrike collapsed its underground shelter. Photo by Sergiy Chalyi / Reuters.

The aid hub operated on the grounds of a local school, where there was an underground shelter. Residents had taken cover in a shelter following a radio warning. A second strike destroyed it. The moments just before that strike were recorded on the bodycam of a police officer who died in the attack.

A search-and-rescue dog and its handler comb through the wreckage of a school-turned-aid hub in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, on November 4, 2026, days after a Russian airstrike collapsed its underground shelter. Photo by Sergiy Chalyi / Reuters.

59 people were missing, Ivan Fedorov said on Wednesday. Fedorov is co-head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Defense Council. Police announced the updated death toll of 42 on Thursday, November 5, putting the attack among the year’s deadliest strikes on civilians.

Rescue workers recover victims at the destroyed school compound in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, that housed a humanitarian aid hub and underground shelter struck by Russian missiles on November 4, 2026. Photo by Sergiy Chalyi / Reuters.

Ukraine’s national police said a 3-ton FAB glide bomb was among the weapons used. Defence intelligence websites estimate that the bomb carries about 1.4 tons of explosives.

Officers load a victim’s body into a van during a recovery operation at the bombed school compound in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on November 4, 2026. Photo by Sergiy Chalyi / Reuters.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian military units near Komyshuvakha and 2 other settlements, claiming to have killed up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen. Russia and Ukraine both deny intentionally attacking civilians.

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