Ukraine says Russian strike on aid center kills 24 | Today’s news

A Russian airstrike on a humanitarian aid center in southern Ukraine killed at least 24 people, authorities said, adding to a pattern of recent attacks that have caused mounting civilian casualties.

A series of rockets hit an aid distribution center operating from a school and a nearby shelter in the settlement of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhia region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday in a post on the X social media platform. He described the attack, in which two paramedics and four police officers were among the dead, as “absolutely terrifying”.

“After the first aerial bomb attack, there was a double strike with nine more bombs, specifically aimed at the shelter where people were hiding,” says Zelenskyy, who posted footage from the scene on his social media. “This is further proof that Russia wants no de-escalation and no real justice.”

Bloomberg could not independently verify the details of what was reported about the attack.

Russia is stepping up attacks on civilian infrastructure, including retail chains, logistics infrastructure and residential buildings, as its military suffered record losses in Ukraine last month while ceding territory to Kiev forces. At least 14 people died in a drone attack on the railway station in the country’s third largest city, Dnieper, on Thursday.

Civilian casualties in Ukraine jumped 85% in September, according to a United Nations report, the highest September total since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. Long-range missiles and drones accounted for more than half of civilian casualties that month.

The death toll is also rising in Russia as Ukrainian strikes penetrate deeper into the country, although the death toll remains much lower than in Ukraine. The UN has recorded reports of 496 civilians killed in Russia this year to September, compared to 2,570 in Ukraine.

This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.