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Russian bombs kill 26 at Ukrainian aid centre; Zelenskyy says 'America can do this' and asks for pressure on Moscow
Glide bombs hit a school used to hand out aid in Komyshuvakha in Zaporizhzhia region, then the shelter where survivors hid. Zelenskyy warned Russia is planning a bigger strike while the world watches the US midterms.
Key points
- Russian bombs on an aid centre in Komyshuvakha killed at least 26 people, among them police officers and rescuers.
- Zelenskyy said Russia is preparing a new massive attack timed to the US midterms.
- He urged Washington to hit Russia's oil and gas revenues, a call that touches big buyers of Russian crude such as India.
Russian glide bombs killed at least 26 people at a school used as an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, a village in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, on Monday. Hours later President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the United States to squeeze Moscow until it has “no alternative but to end this war”.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said two rescue workers and four police officers were among the dead and five people were injured. Twenty-seven people were still missing on Monday night. Pictures released by the service showed the building reduced to rubble and a burned-out bus outside.
A second strike on the shelter
People in the village came to the school every week to collect food and other aid. Zelenskyy said Russia could not have been unaware of that. After the first bombs fell, he said, “there was a repeat strike with nine more bombs” on the shelter where survivors had gathered. The regional governor said Russian forces dropped at least nine KAB-3000 bombs on the settlement during the day.
Zelenskyy called the attack “utterly horrific” and said it showed that Russia did not want “any kind of de-escalation, any real justice”. He said hopes of progress toward peace after a six-day humanitarian pause in Oleshky, in Kherson region, last week had been dashed, and that Russia was “counting on more killings”.
‘America can do this’
In his nightly address, Zelenskyy warned that Moscow was planning a new massive attack aimed at energy and logistics, timed for the American vote on Tuesday. “The assumption is basically that tomorrow the world will be watching the American midterms,” he said.
He asked the Trump administration to target Russia’s oil money. “We must not play games with Russia’s oil or gas revenues,” he said. “We must put pressure on Russia in such a way that it has no alternative but to end this war. America can do this.”
That call matters for India. Indian refiners are among the biggest buyers of Russian crude, and any tougher US move on Russian oil revenue would reach their supply and their payments.
Patriots and peace talks
Kyiv is short of air defence. The US State Department has approved a possible sale of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors to Ukraine, worth an estimated $2.1 billion, though delivery dates are unclear. On Sunday Zelenskyy offered to pause Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries for a month if Washington supplied Patriot interceptors in that time.
Donald Trump is pursuing a settlement through his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russia has not commented on Komyshuvakha and denies targeting civilians. Its defence ministry said it shot down 212 Ukrainian drones overnight.