Ukraine says Russian strikes dash peace progress hopes after 24 killed

At least 24 people were killed in Russian strikes on a school distributing humanitarian aid in southern Ukraine, following the expiry of a local ceasefire.

03 Nov 2026 04:55AM

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".

RUSSIA FORTIFIES POSTIONS

The ceasefire last week enabled an evacuation of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.

It was the longest pause in fighting between the neighbours in the war, now in its fifth year, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

A senior Ukrainian figure told AFP Sunday that Russia refused a Ukrainian offer to extend the truce.

Kyiv's military also alleged that Moscow had used the pause in fighting to "fortify its positions".

The Kremlin did not deny the accusations, with its spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters Monday: "This is a completely normal practice in such situations."

He alleged the Ukrainian army had also used pauses in fighting in the past to regroup.

Moscow saw the Oleshky humanitarian mission as "successful", Peskov added, praising the "good cooperation between all sides" and singling out the role of its human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova.

Lantratova oversaw the ceasefire alongside her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in one of the most substantial instances of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation since the start of the war.

The mission saw people taken both to Ukraine-controlled territory and to Moscow-annexed Crimea.

The Kremlin said that no other similar missions were being planned "at the moment".

US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume this month.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for a settlement to the dragging war but efforts have not yet led to a breakthrough.

The talks - expected to be held in Abu Dhabi - come as Kyiv and its European allies worry that Trump has increasingly sided with Moscow.

CYBERATTACKS

Both Russia and Ukraine said overnight that their emergency warnings apps were hacked in apparent cyberattacks that came after the truce had ended.

Ukraine said it suspected its air raid alert system had been compromised, after baseless alerts of a radiation threat were sent to millions.

The warning system provides vital information about incoming Russian drones and missiles.

Russia has intensified its attacks this year, firing ballistic missiles and fast jet-powered drones, both of which are hard to intercept.

Moscow said that an app belonging to its emergency situations ministry that also warns of attacks had been hacked, too.

The app is not widely used in Russia, where warnings of Ukrainian drone attacks are not as common and typically sent by text message in border regions.