Zelensky: Deadly Russian strikes destroy "any hope of progress toward peace"

Kyiv announced that a series of Russian strikes against a humanitarian aid distribution center in Zaporizhzhia left at least 24 people dead.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that hopes for "progress toward peace," raised by a localized truce last week, had been shattered by deadly Russian strikes in southeastern Ukraine.

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS), a Russian airstrike in the Zaporizhzhia region killed at least 24 people on Monday, including two rescuers and four police officers. Five other people were reportedly injured.

Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor, indicated that Russian forces dropped "at least nine KAB-3000 bombs" on the town of Komyshuvakha during the day.

"All emergency services are deployed at the scene, while municipal workers clear the rubble," he wrote on Telegram.

Zelensky called the attack "absolutely atrocious," stating that it targeted "a school used for humanitarian purposes," where people had come to seek aid.

"After the first airstrike, a second attack followed, with nine additional bombs specifically targeting the shelter where residents had taken refuge," he wrote on X.

Images released by the DSNS show a building reduced to ruins as well as a bus that appears completely incinerated.

Russia is "counting on more killings"

In his post, Zelenskyy indicated that the attacks had also diminished hopes of moving closer to a peace agreement.

"After the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible," he wrote.

Evacuees from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, arrived in Ukraine on Saturday after traveling through Belarus, as part of a rare humanitarian truce between Kyiv and Moscow.

However, Zelenskyy stated that the attack in Zaporizhzhia demonstrated that Russia was "sending a totally opposite signal" and that it is "counting on more killings."

"There must be a response to this, a response from the world. A strong and firm response," he added.

Authorities in Kherson reported that Russia had resumed its attacks on the region on Monday, following a drone strike on the Korabelny district.

A 62-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man reportedly suffered blast injuries during that attack.

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