Russian missile strike on Ukraine aid site kills 31 as nationwide attacks damage power grid

The number of people killed in a Russian attack on a humanitarian aid site in southern Ukraine rose to 31 on Tuesday, with dozens of residents still missing beneath the debris. The strike targeted a facility in the village of Komyushuvakha within the Zaporizhzhia region, where civilians had gathered to receive assistance. Rescuers and volunteers continued to comb through the cratered site, hoping to locate approximately 45 missing individuals alive, but the operation yielded more bodies carried away wrapped in white plastic sheeting.

Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the regional military administration, described the incident as one of the worst tragedies for civilian victims in the area since the start of the full-scale war. He noted that the scale of the tragedy is terrifying. The attack involved the use of Russian bunker-busting bombs containing nearly 1.5 tons of explosives, which were deployed on Monday. Three days of mourning were declared in the Zaporizhzhia region to honor the victims.

Among the confirmed dead were four police officers and two rescue workers, according to Semikin. At least five other people were injured in the blast. Local authorities indicated that the strikes specifically targeted a school that had been repurposed for humanitarian use, where people were in the process of receiving aid when the aerial bombs fell.

The attack was part of a larger overnight campaign that targeted power plants across the country, resulting in emergency power cuts and damage to medical facilities. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions. He highlighted that this barrage coincided with the United States elections, suggesting that the timing was intended as a signal.

Zelenskyy argued that the Russian leadership believes America will not notice this signal, but emphasized that Ukraine must recognize it and stop the terror. He called for international support to help Ukraine defend its skies, warning that Russia will continue its missile strikes otherwise. The damage to the energy infrastructure has had immediate consequences for the population.

In the northeast Kharkiv region, a combined missile and drone attack wounded at least 62 people. Local authorities reported that a strike damaged a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district, shattered windows in four apartment buildings, and damaged vehicles. Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration, said that more than 200 patients had to be transferred to other medical facilities to accommodate the influx of injured individuals.

In the Dnipro area, rescuers managed to pull a woman alive from the rubble early Tuesday morning. A Russian attack in this region killed one person and wounded 17 others. The strike caused damage to both an outpatient clinic and a hospital, prompting the transfer of patients to other facilities, according to Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced that it had shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight. Meanwhile, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 493 drones were fired toward the Russian capital. In the Russian city of Yaroslavl, a Ukrainian drone attack wounded two employees at an oil refinery. Regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev confirmed that the refinery’s infrastructure sustained damage as a result of the strike.

Rolling blackouts have also been instituted in the south, west, and east of Russian-occupied Crimea. Moscow-installed officials stated that these power cuts were a direct consequence of attacks on the region's energy infrastructure, further straining the local population and services.