Kyiv: Russia targeted emergency workers on rescue missions in southern Ukraine on Sunday with a drone attack, hitting a former school and nearby shelter that had earlier been blasted by multiple Russian guided bombs as residents waited for humanitarian aid, authorities said.
No one was injured in Sunday's strike at the same location, but specialised rescue equipment was damaged, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
The drone struck a former school and a nearby underground shelter that had earlier been hit by multiple Russian guided bombs. Residents had gathered at the location to receive humanitarian aid. No injuries were reported in Sunday's drone strike, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Ukraine said the attack on November 2 killed at least 55 people in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, said many of the bodies recovered from the earlier attack had yet to be identified, with DNA analysis underway. Village resident Mykola Krasnov told The Associated Press that he was still searching for his wife, who had gone to collect humanitarian aid when the bombs struck.
Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out so-called double-tap strikes, hitting the same location in quick succession to target emergency responders arriving after an initial attack. HUR said it had identified some of the Russian service members allegedly involved in the bombing of the former school and underground shelter.
The community has also mourned the deaths of police officers and residents killed in the strikes. Six police officers, including four who died near the former school, were honoured at a farewell ceremony in Zaporizhzhia on Saturday. Three residents were also among those killed.
Among the victims was Natalia Karapetian, who had been distributing bread to people sheltering at the site. Her husband, community leader Yurii Karapetian, described the loss as unbearable and urged the international community to act against Russia's attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack on emergency crews in Komyshuvakha, describing it as an act of "absolute cynicism and brutality".
He also said Russian strikes on energy infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk region had left more than 600,000 people without electricity. Other regions were also facing power outages.
Zelenskyy said Russia had launched 115 missiles, 1,900 guided aerial bombs and more than 3,000 drones against Ukraine over the preceding week. He called on Kyiv's international partners to impose sanctions on entities involved in producing Russian missiles, noting that many of the weapons used in the attacks had been manufactured this year.
"If the world does not have enough anti-ballistic capabilities to protect Ukrainian skies, then the missiles must be stopped on the production lines," he said, urging the European Union to adopt a strong 22nd package of sanctions against Russia.
In another development, the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility, lost its external power supply after a damaged power line was disconnected for safety reasons.
The plant's management said an automatic protection system shut down the damaged Ferosplavna line, forcing the facility to rely on backup diesel generators.
Although the plant has been offline since Russian forces captured it early in the war, it still requires electricity to operate essential cooling systems. Repeated disruptions to its external power supply have raised concerns about the risk of a nuclear accident during prolonged outages.
Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other for attacks that have damaged power lines near the facility.
(With agency inputs from ANI and AP via PTI)