Drone Hits Rescue Workers in Ukrainian Village After Deadly Bombing

Ukraine is dealing with a double strike on the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region, where Russian forces targeted both civilians and the emergency responders sent to help them. A Russian drone struck rescue workers on Sunday while they operated near a damaged school and underground shelter. These structures had been hit earlier by multiple guided bombs while residents waited for humanitarian aid.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine stated that at least 55 people died in the attacks on Monday. No one was injured in the subsequent drone strike on Sunday, but specialized rescue equipment sustained damage. The military intelligence agency, HUR, reported that approximately 50 people remain listed as missing. Authorities noted that many recovered bodies are still unidentified, with DNA analysis ongoing to determine their status.

Mykola Krasnov, a 72-year-old resident, spoke to the Associated Press on Saturday about his wife, who went to the shelter for aid. He said a three-ton bomb was dropped on the location. Krasnov stated that she did not return home, and her body has not been found in the morgue or elsewhere in the village. HUR said on Saturday that it had identified some Russian military personnel involved in the coordinated air strikes that destroyed the school and the shelter used by locals.

Ukrainian police and community members held funeral services in Zaporizhzhia on Saturday for six officers killed in the attacks. Four of the officers died near the former school. Lieutenant Colonel Andrii Khomenko, a colleague of the victims, said the officers used every skill available to protect themselves. He added that when an enemy deliberately gathers civilians in one place and then attacks them, no amount of skill can help. Three other neighbors were also buried in the same section of the Zaporizhzhia cemetery, where officials plan to build a monument.

Yurii Karapetian, a community leader, lost his wife Natalia during the bombing. She was distributing bread to people in the shelter when the impact occurred. Karapetian described the pain as unbearable and urged the international community to act. He warned that if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, it will not stop anywhere else. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on emergency teams on Sunday "absolute cynicism and brutality." He noted that recent Russian night strikes on energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk region left over 600,000 people without electricity.

Zelenskyy said Russia launched 115 missiles, 1,900 guided aerial bombs, and more than 3,000 drones at Ukraine during the last week. He requested that partners sanction entities involved in the production of these weapons, specifically asking the European Union for a 22nd sanctions package. Separately, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which is under Russian control and the largest in Europe, lost its external power supply on Sunday. The plant administration said a damaged line named Ferosplavna was disconnected for safety reasons. The facility is now running on diesel backup generators to keep essential cooling systems active.