53 killed in Russian strike on humanitarian aid point in Zaporizhzhia Oblast

The death toll from a Russian airstrike on a humanitarian aid point in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast has risen to 53, acting regional governor Mihajlo Semikin said. The attack took place on Monday, November 2, in the settlement of Komyshuvakha, where rescue teams are now searching the rubble for a fifth day.

"Already 53 killed as a result of the Russian attack on Komyshuvakha on November 2," Semikin wrote on Telegram. Two minutes earlier Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that rescuers had found eight more bodies, bringing the tally at that time to 50; officials have not clarified the difference between the counts.

How the strike unfolded

Russian forces struck a former school used to distribute aid and a nearby shelter. The school was not holding regular classes because the settlement sits close to the front line. The United Nations says the aid distribution had been publicly announced a day earlier for the 10:00–12:00 period. After the first strike, a second hit the shelter where civilians had sought protection.

The United Nations reported that among the dead were four police officers and two rescuers who arrived to help. Investigators verified the authenticity of footage from a body camera belonging to one of the slain policemen that shows moments before the second strike. Local authorities said the settlement was hit by nine aerial bombs in two waves.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said the strikes targeted Ukrainian military units in the wider area and claimed up to 25 soldiers were killed; those assertions have not been independently confirmed, and it has not been established that military targets were located in the struck buildings. Ukrainian police said as many as 33 people could still be trapped under the rubble. One person previously listed as missing was found alive, and DNA tests are under way to identify the dead; the final toll remains unconfirmed.

Photo: press material from the event