‘Utterly horrific’ Russian strike on aid centre kills 18, Zelenskyy says

Russia has bombed a school being used for humanitarian purposes, killing 18 people and proving the Kremlin “wants no de-escalation” in the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared.

The attacks on an aid distribution centre and neighbouring shelter in the village of Komyshuvakha, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, occurred as a limited ceasefire expired on Monday in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

“The Russians could not have been unaware that every week, local residents who had remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid at that very location,” Zelenskyy said.

“And this is further proof that Russia wants no de-escalation and no real justice.”

He said an initial strike was followed by “a double-tap strike with nine more bombs, specifically targeting the shelter where people were taking cover”.

“After the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible,” the president said, calling the latest strike “utterly horrific”.

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“With these killings, Russia is sending an entirely opposite signal: Russia is counting on more killings. There must be a response to this – a response from the world.”

The brief pause in fighting, which began on October 27, was part of a humanitarian aid and evacuation mission in the Russian-occupied city. 

It marked the most significant truce between Kyiv and Moscow since Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly five years ago.

The limited ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia had allowed humanitarian aid and evacuation missions into front-line areas in Russian-occupied territory.

It was not clear if apparent cyberattacks sparking phony emergency alerts from government-run mobile apps late on Sunday in Ukraine (Monday AEDT) and early Monday in Russia were related.

A Russian Telegram channel with links to the country's security services said Monday that a hacking group, Hitcore, claimed responsibility for the breach of the Ukrainian emergency alert system.

The claim hasn’t been independently verified.

- Reported with Associated Press