Russian drones hit rescue crews at Ukrainian village after initial bomb strike
At least 55 people died in Komyshuvakha after a second attack targeted emergency workers responding to the first impact.
By Rafael Bailey ·
A Russian drone struck emergency workers in southern Ukraine on Sunday.
The attack hit a former school and a nearby shelter in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed that at least 55 people were killed in the strikes on Monday. The initial explosion came from multiple Russian guided bombs. The drone then targeted the same location where rescue crews had gathered.
No one was injured in the Sunday drone strike, but specialized rescue equipment was damaged, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, the HUR, stated that about 50 people remained missing as of Saturday. DNA analysis is ongoing to identify the bodies recovered.
Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he was still searching for his wife. He said she went to collect humanitarian aid when a 3-ton bomb was dropped nearby.
“She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there,” Krasnov said. “She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”
The HUR identified some Russian service members involved in what it called a “double tap” strike. Ukraine has routinely accused Russia of conducting multiple strikes at the same site in quick succession to target emergency crews responding to the initial attack.
On Saturday, police officers and relatives gathered in Zaporizhzhia for a farewell ceremony for six officers killed in the strikes. Four of the officers died near the former school. Rain fell as families wept beside the coffins, and officers held portraits of their fallen colleagues.
Andrii Khomenko, a police lieutenant colonel who had worked alongside the victims, said the officers used every skill at their disposal to protect themselves. He noted that no skills could have helped when the enemy deliberately gathered civilians in one place and then launched strikes.
Yuliia Nykonenko, a senior police lieutenant, said the officers risked their lives to save others, including children. She recalled that the group had once escaped a Russian FPV drone together.
The community also said goodbye to three residents among the dead. They were buried near one another in a part of the Zaporizhzhia cemetery where authorities plan to create a memorial. Yurii Karapetian, a community leader, mourned his wife Natalia Karapetian, who was killed while distributing bread to those in the shelter.
“This pain, I would say, is unbearable,” Karapetian said. He said his wife chose to stay in Komyshuvakha to help other residents, many of them elderly and living alone. He urged the international community to act against Russia’s actions in Ukraine and beyond. “The whole world must understand that if (the Russians) are not stopped, they will not stop,” he said. “They will not stop at Ukraine. They will not stop anywhere.”
