Komisuvaha: Bombs Hit Aid School, at Least 33 Dead
A school where aid was handed out every week was hit first, then the shelter where people fled; rescuers and police who arrived at the scene were among the dead.
Russian glide bombs struck a school in the village of Komisuvaha in the Zaporizhzhia region on Monday, November 2, where humanitarian aid was handed out every week, and then hit the shelter where people had taken cover, killing at least 33 people. For Serbia, a European Union candidate that has not joined sanctions against Russia, events like this are not just news from someone else’s war: every mass-casualty attack on civilians brings back the question, in Brussels and other European capitals, of how closely candidate countries align with the common foreign policy.
What happened in Komisuvaha?
The village lies about 20 kilometers from the front line and, according to the Zaporizhzhia research center, has been treated as a frontline settlement since November 2025, when frequent glide bomb attacks began. Russian forces bombed it several times on Monday morning. The school, where residents regularly received aid packages, was hit first, and nine more glide bombs were then dropped on the shelter where people had sought protection.
According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, rescuers and police reached the scene after the first strike, but a threat of another attack forced them to take cover. Russian forces struck the same place again. A gym, an auxiliary building and a fire truck were destroyed, and the school building was damaged. NBC News reports that shelter-penetrating bombs were used, some of them carrying close to 1.5 tons of explosives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the strike horrific and said it proved that Russia does not want de-escalation. He said:
“Russian forces could not have failed to know that the residents who remained in Komisuvaha received humanitarian aid there every week.”
How many people died, and who were they?
The figures differ. The Kyiv Independent reports at least 33 dead, while NBC News reports at least 31. Among the dead are two rescuers and four police officers. Five people were injured, including two rescuers. The rescuers who died were Denys Konovalenko and Oleksii Sushchevskyi, both 44. Konovalenko had served in civil protection for almost twelve years, and Sushchevskyi had worked in fire and rescue units in Zaporizhzhia since 2013. Both held state awards, and both left behind wives and four children.
The fate of those who have not been found is also unclear. The governor, who is also acting head of the regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin, said 48 people are listed as missing, and Zelensky told a news conference in Berlin that more than 50 people could be under the rubble. The search was still under way on the morning of November 3. Three days of mourning have been declared in the region.
Semikin described the scale of the event:
“The scale of the tragedy is terrifying. Behind every number is a human life, a family that has lost loved ones or is still waiting for news about them.”
He added that it is one of the worst tragedies in terms of civilian casualties in the region since the start of the full-scale war: “This is one of the worst tragedies in terms of civilian casualties in our region since the start of the full-scale war.”
What else happened that night?
According to Zelensky, Russia launched 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles at nine regions. In a post online, as reported by NBC News, Zelensky noted that the attack coincided with the American elections:
“The Russians think America will not notice this signal of theirs.”
In the same post he said Ukraine needs help defending its skies: “We must help Ukraine defend its sky; otherwise, Russia will never stop the missile strikes.”
In Kharkiv, at least 62 people were injured, and more than 200 patients were moved out of a damaged medical facility. In Dnipro, one person was killed and 17 were injured in the attack.
What comes after Komisuvaha?
The attack came a few days before a new round of negotiations. Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy, announced that trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States will be held on November 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will attend. These would be the first such talks since February. Zelensky traveled to Germany on Tuesday for consultations with European leaders, and the European Commission has scheduled a meeting in Brussels on Ukraine for Wednesday, November 4, with representatives of the US, Ukraine, NATO and several European countries.
