KYIV, Ukraine — The death toll from a Russian strike on a humanitarian aid point in southern Ukraine climbed to 31, with rescue crews entering a second night of digging through debris in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia region.
Monday’s assault targeted a former school and adjacent shelter just as residents queued for food and supplies. More than 45 people remained unaccounted for as emergency teams and volunteers pulled bodies from the craters, wrapping them in white plastic sheeting.
Acting regional military chief Mykhailo Semikin called the scale of destruction “terrifying” and said it ranked among the worst civilian casualty events in the region since Russia’s full-scale invasion began more than four and a half years ago. Four police officers and two rescue workers number among the dead. At least five others suffered injuries.
Meanwhile, the bombardment extended far beyond Komyshuvakha. President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions overnight. Emergency power cuts followed. The barrage coincided with the US midterm elections.
“The Russians believe America won’t notice this signal of theirs,” Zelensky said. “But we required to notice and stop such terror.”
**A trusted refuge destroyed**
Baptist pastor Vladyslav Makhovskyi joined the search effort, moving bodies and helping elderly residents wrapped in blankets. He described the shelter as a place locals trusted deeply, somewhere they slept overnight because it felt safer than their own homes.
The Russian bomb proved “so powerful that it broke through the heavily reinforced concrete blocks,” Makhovskyi said. “The job’s not done. There are more bodies in there.”
Recovery operations paused Tuesday when Russian drones appeared overhead, forcing soldiers to fire at them.
**A wider wave of attacks**
The strikes followed the expiration of a six-day ceasefire in Russian-occupied Oleshky that had allowed trapped civilians to evacuate. Zelensky said Ukraine proposed extending that truce. Russia answered with missiles.
“We offered to Russia to extend the cease-fire in Oleshky, but this was the answer: new attacks, new strikes, new killings of our people,” Zelensky said in Berlin, where he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
In Kharkiv, at least 62 people suffered wounds from a combined missile and drone assault. A medical facility in Nemyshlianskyi district sustained damage, along with four apartment buildings. More than 200 patients required transfer to other hospitals.
Rescuers in Dnipro pulled a woman alive from rubble Tuesday morning after an attack there killed one person and wounded 17.
**Energy grid under pressure**
Russia’s overnight campaign damaged power plants and infrastructure, hitting 20 sites across 10 regions ahead of winter. Ukrainian utility DTEK confirmed three of its plants halted operations. Rolling blackouts began in Russian-occupied Crimea following attacks on energy facilities there.
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reporting 493 drones aimed at the capital.
**Peace talks loom**
Zelensky’s Germany trip kicked off consultations with European leaders before US-mediated peace negotiations scheduled for November 10-11 in Abu Dhabi. Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, confirmed those dates. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would send a delegation.
Ukraine’s priorities include halting strikes on energy infrastructure, reopening Black Sea grain shipments, and expanding prisoner exchanges. Zelensky said those talks could set up trilateral meetings between leaders.
“Europe’s involvement in the process, in achieving peace, is essential,” he said. He told the Berlin Security Conference that despite the extreme pressure, “Ukraine will never surrender.”
The European Commission announced it would host reconstruction talks Wednesday with officials from France, Germany, the UK, the EU, NATO, the US and the World Bank.
