Ukraine Aid-Site Death Toll Rises to 31 as Search Continues

Aid distribution turned deadly

Updated November 3, 2026, 5:54 a.m. Central (1:54 p.m. in Ukraine).

At least 31 people were killed and nearly 50 remained missing after Russian airstrikes hit a school used to distribute humanitarian aid and a shelter in Komyshuvakha, in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday. Interfax-Ukraine reported the updated figures from acting regional administration head Mykhailo Semikin; The Associated Press also reported 31 dead.

Two rescue workers and four police officers were among the dead, acting regional administration head Mykhailo Semikin said, according to The Associated Press. At least five people were injured. The search was continuing, officials said, and the figures could change.

The attack happened Monday, November 2, as people gathered for assistance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the school was struck and further bombs hit a shelter where people had taken cover. His account of Russia’s intent is an allegation; Newstro has not independently determined it.

Rescuers among the dead

Emergency crews and police responded after the first strike. Ukraine’s emergency service said they sheltered when another attack threatened and the site was struck again, The Kyiv Independent reported.

The emergency service identified the two rescuers as Denys Konovalenko and Oleksii Sushchevskyi, both 44, according to the publication. It said both had worked in emergency services for years and left behind families.

As night fell Monday, responders searched collapsed buildings with flashlights. Semikin said additional Russian drones in the area hindered their work, AP reported.

Where the strikes happened

Komyshuvakha is a settlement in the Zaporizhzhia region, southeast of the regional city of Zaporizhzhia. The star marks the general settlement area; the school’s exact location is not shown.

What officials reported

Dates are local to Ukraine. The number of people missing is not a confirmed death toll.

1. November 2Ukrainian officials say Russian aerial bombs hit the school serving as an aid-distribution point and then a shelter. Early casualty reports changed as rescuers searched.
2. November 2, eveningAP reported 26 deaths and about 20 missing, citing officials. Semikin said further drone activity impeded rescue efforts.
3. November 3Semikin initially reported 29 dead, five injured and 48 missing. He later said 31 were dead and nearly 50 were missing, according to Interfax-Ukraine; AP also reported the higher death toll.

A separate humanitarian pause had ended

Monday’s attack came as a limited ceasefire in the separate Kherson region ended. That pause had supported aid and evacuations around Russian-occupied Oleshky; it was not an agreement covering Komyshuvakha, according to AP.

Zelenskyy condemned the strike and accused Russia of knowing civilians gathered at the school. The available reports do not independently establish the attackers’ intent. Newstro did not find a specific Russian response to this strike in the sources reviewed.

The president’s earlier post

Zelenskyy described the attack in a November 2 post. His initial figure of 18 deaths was later superseded by the regional administration’s higher count.

Read Zelenskyy’s post on X

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Sources and visual credits

Update: An earlier version reported 29 dead and 48 missing. It has been updated with officials’ later report of 31 dead and nearly 50 missing.

Associated Press latest · Associated Press earlier report · The Kyiv Independent · Interfax-Ukraine · Zelenskyy on X · Settlement location.

Hero and thumbnail: generated conceptual paper-cut illustration, not a photograph of the site or attack.