Russian strike on Ukraine aid point kills at least 18, Kyiv says

At least 18 people waiting to receive humanitarian aid in the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region were killed in a Russian attack on Monday, the regional head, Mykhailo Semikin, said. Five people were injured and 27 were still missing after at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs hit the village, he said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the first strike hit the local school, which he said was used for humanitarian needs, and that a second attack hit the place where people were sheltering. He posted a video showing a large crater left by the attack and rescue teams searching through the rubble.

"The Russians could not have been unaware that the local residents who remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid there every week," Zelensky wrote in a post on social media. He said the attack was "yet another proof that Russia does not want any de-escalation."

Zelensky said that after a recent joint Russian-Ukrainian operation to evacuate civilians from the Russia-occupied southern city of Oleshky, "there was a moment when the next steps could show that peace is possible." He added: "With such killings, Russia is sending the exact opposite signal - Russia is counting on further killings."

Semikin said rescue teams were working at the scene and that people were still under the rubble. The Russian military has not publicly commented. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.