Ukraine says Russian strikes dash peace progress hopes after 24 killed

KYIV: Ukraine on Monday (Nov 2) said multiple Russian strikes on a school where humanitarian aid was distributed killed at least 24 people and dashed fragile hopes of “progress toward peace” after a local ceasefire in the south expired without violations.

Russia resumed its strikes on the southern region of Kherson after the end of a local ceasefire in the area, the longest truce in the war raging between the neighbours since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Kyiv said.

A rare pause in the fighting, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump to enable a mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ended Sunday after starting on Tuesday, with neither side reporting violations.

But hours after the truce, Russia targeted a village in a region adjacent to Kherson with repeated strikes that killed at least 24 people, regional governor said, some of whom had come to collect aid at a local school.

Footage posted by Ukrainian emergency services showed the building reduced to piles of smouldering rubble and rescuers working at the site.

“Every Monday humanitarian aid was distributed to people there. The Russians carried out the first strike just as people arrived – several aerial bombs. Then there was a repeat strike – more aerial bombs, this time targeting the shelter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

Among those killed were “a police officer and two State Emergency Service rescuers”, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram.

The service named the rescuers as two 44-year-olds: Denys Konovalenko and Oleksy Sushchevsky.

“Every day they went out to help people, working in dangerous conditions and risking their own lives to save others,” it said in a statement.

Zelenskyy said that after the Oleshky truce, “there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible.”

“With these killings, Russia is sending an entirely opposite signal: Russia is counting on more killings. There must be a response to this”.