Russian Drone Strikes Rescue Crews at Ukraine Shelter Days After Deadly Bombing

A Russian drone struck emergency workers responding in southern Ukraine on Sunday, damaging rescue equipment at a site in the Zaporizhzhia region that had already been hit by multiple guided bombs days earlier, Ukrainian authorities said. The earlier attack on the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line, killed at least 55 people, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

Sunday's strike hit a former school and a nearby shelter used by residents, the service said. No one was injured, but specialised rescue equipment was damaged. Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, said around 50 people remained unaccounted for, with many recovered bodies still unidentified as DNA analysis continues.

Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, told the Associated Press he was still searching for his wife. He said she had gone to collect humanitarian aid when a heavy aerial bomb struck the area, and that she had not returned home and was not found at the scene or in a morgue.

HUR said it had identified some of the Russian service members involved in what Ukraine describes as a "double tap" strike, in which a site is hit repeatedly in quick succession to target emergency crews arriving after the first attack. Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow of using this tactic.

On Saturday, police officers and relatives gathered in Zaporizhzhia for a farewell ceremony honouring six officers killed in the strikes, including four who died near the former school. Lieutenant Colonel Andrii Khomenko, who had worked alongside the victims, said the officers had used every skill available to protect themselves, but that no training could have helped when civilians were deliberately gathered in one place before strikes were launched.

The reports could not be independently verified. The strikes come as fighting continues along the front line in southern and eastern Ukraine, where civilian sites and emergency responders have repeatedly come under attack.