Russian strikes on a school in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region have killed at least 26 people, Ukrainian officials said Monday, after civilians gathered at the site to collect humanitarian aid. The attack came soon after a temporary ceasefire in southern Ukraine ended, intensifying doubts over the outlook for renewed peace efforts.
Deadly strike follows expiry of southern truce
Kyiv said Russian forces resumed military operations in the southern Kherson region once the ceasefire expired. The pause in fighting had run from Tuesday through Sunday and was described as the longest such truce since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The arrangement was reportedly facilitated by US First Lady Melania Trump to enable a humanitarian mission in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky. Neither side had reported breaches of the ceasefire while it remained in force.
Within hours of its end, Russian forces carried out multiple attacks on a village in the adjacent Zaporizhzhia region, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said. The strikes killed at least 26 people, including civilians waiting at a local school for emergency supplies.
School reduced to rubble during aid distribution
Footage issued by Ukraine’s emergency services showed the school in smoking ruins as rescue teams combed through the debris.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the assault coincided with the weekly Monday distribution of assistance to local residents.
- The first attack involved several aerial bombs dropped as people arrived at the school.
- A subsequent wave of aerial bombs struck the shelter area, Zelensky said.
- Two emergency responders and four police officers were among those killed, Semikin said.
Ukraine’s emergency service named the two dead rescuers as 44-year-old Denys Konovalenko and Oleksy Sushchevsky, also aged 44.
“They went out every day to assist people, operating in hazardous conditions and putting their own lives at risk to save others,” the service said.
Zelensky says attack undermines prospects for peace
Zelensky said the Oleshky ceasefire had created an opening to show that further moves toward ending the war could produce tangible results.
“Following the Oleshky truce, there was a point at which the next steps could have demonstrated that progress toward peace was possible,” he said.
Instead, the latest deaths indicated that Russia was choosing continued violence over a peaceful settlement, Zelensky argued, calling for a response to the attacks.
“Through these killings, Russia is delivering the completely opposite message: it is banking on more deaths. There must be a response,” the Ukrainian president said.
