Russian strike on school in Ukraine's Komyshuvakha kills at least 31

Russian forces struck a school being used as an aid distribution point in Komyshuvakha village in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, killing at least 31 people, according to a regional official.

Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the Regional Military Administration of Zaporizhzhia, said five people were injured and almost 50 people were still to be found in the village. Regina Kharchenko, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, said 27 people were missing. Police said officers and rescue teams were trying to reach residents believed to be trapped under rubble.

Local emergency services said those killed included two members of a rescue crew and four police officers. Two rescue workers are being treated in hospital.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school, which served as a shelter and as a place to distribute humanitarian aid every Monday. A second strike followed, hitting the shelter with more aerial bombs. He said: "The Russians struck first just as people were arriving – a few aerial bombs". He also said: "Russia continues to kill people". Zelensky added that the Russians could not have been unaware that residents gathered each week for aid packages. He described the attack as a "vile terrorist attack". There were no classes at the school because the village was too close to the front line.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack targeted Ukrainian military units in areas around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements in the region. It said up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station were destroyed. Russia and Ukraine both deny deliberately targeting civilians.

Zelensky said the attack came after a humanitarian mission in the southern city of Oleshky, brokered by US first lady Melania Trump. It also occurred a day after the end of a six-day local ceasefire arranged to bring aid into Oleshky and evacuate residents who wished to leave.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strike on Tuesday as "Another barbaric and cynical Russian attack". He urged countries to shun Russian participation in top-level sport after a ruling by sport's highest court ordering Russia's reinstatement in major tournaments.

A senior US official told Reuters the US will bring together Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Abu Dhabi on November 10 to 11 to discuss ending the war, post-war security agreements and de-escalation. The last US-mediated peace talks took place in February. In August, UN monitors said casualties had risen sharply from last year, with more civilians killed or injured in July than in any month since March 2022.