Russia's 'vile terrorist strike' kills dozens at school used as aid centre

Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskky has described a series of deadly Russian attacks at a school being used as an aid hub in the country's south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia, as a "vile terrorist strike". 

At least 33 people have been killed, and 50 people remain buried in the rubble following the attack, Mr Zelenskyy said in Berlin on Tuesday, local time. 

Earlier, Regina Kharchenko, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, said 27 people were missing. 

The school, bordering the frontline of Russia's 4.5-year war with Ukraine, was being used as a shelter.

Mr Zelenskyy said the school was no longer used for classes, but was used to deliver aid to residents in the area every Monday. 

He claimed Russian forces could not have been unaware that the school was being used.

"The Russians struck first just as people were arriving — a few aerial bombs,"  Mr Zelenskyy said. 

"Then there was a second strike — more air bombs, this time on the shelter. A vile terrorist strike."

Two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among those killed, emergency services said, after Russia launched the double-tap strike. 

Two rescue workers were among those taken to hospital for treatment.

Russia and Ukraine both deny deliberately targeting civilians in the conflict.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the attack had targeted Ukrainian military units in areas around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region.

It said in a statement on Tuesday that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed, while 15 vehicles and an electronic warfare station were also destroyed.

In August, UN monitors said that casualties have risen sharply from last year, adding that more civilians were killed or injured in the war in Ukraine in July than in any month since March 2022.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also condemned the attack.

"Another barbaric and cynical Russian attack," he said. 

"Russia's cruelty knows no bounds, and its disregard for human life has no moral justification."

Citing the attack, Mr Sybiha urged countries to shun Russian participation in top-level sport following a ruling by sport's highest court ordering the country's reinstatement in major tournaments.

"Russia deserves condemnation, isolation, and consequences, not a return to international respectability," Mr Sybiha wrote on X. 

"Its crimes cannot be separated from its flag, its national teams, or its attempts to regain international legitimacy."

Photographs posted online showed smouldering rubble strewn throughout the area.

The attack occurred a day after the expiry of a six-day local ceasefire arranged to bring aid into Oleshky to the south-west in Kherson region and evacuate residents wishing to leave.

US-mediated peace talks are scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi on November 10 to 11.

Reuters