Death Toll Rises to 33 in Russian Bombing of Shelter in Ukraine, 50 Still Missing
At least 33 people have been killed in a Russian bombing of a shelter in south-eastern Ukraine. Another 50 people are missing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave news of the attack on Tuesday and described it as one of the deadliest attacks of the ongoing war.
US outlet CNN reported that Russian forces dropped at least nine bombs on a school building in the Komyshuvakha area of the Zaporizhzhia region. The building was being used as a shelter for civilians and as a humanitarian aid distribution centre.
Local governor Mykhailo Semikin said the bombing collapsed the protected shelter on the building's ground floor and fire spread through it.
Last year, a reinforced basement was built under the building with European Union funding. The shelter was built to withstand attacks so that education could continue during the war. The force of the bombs, however, broke the concrete structure apart.
Many residents of the area had already moved elsewhere as the fighting intensified. The building was no longer being used as a school, but as a centre for administrative and humanitarian aid work.
Zelenskyy said that shortly after the attack on the shelter, Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, using hundreds of drones alongside powerful cruise and ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy alleged that the attack was carried out even though US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for attacks on energy infrastructure to stop.
