Russian forces launched 699 attacks on 55 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region over a 24-hour period, injuring six people, regional officials reported. The barrage included 20 airstrikes across communities such as Kushuhum, Novorozivka, and Zhovta Krucha, 13 multiple launch rocket system strikes in Zarichne, Zhovta Krucha, Tavriiske, Odarivka, and Soniachne, and approximately 180 artillery strikes hitting Richne, Veselianka, Orikhiv, and other settlements. Over 1,000 FPV drones and various UAVs were deployed in the assaults.
In a separate incident, at least 24 people were killed and five injured when Russian bombs struck a humanitarian aid distribution centre in the village of Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia region. The attack, which used at least nine 3,000kg aerial bombs, reduced the site to rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially put the death toll at 18 but the State Emergency Service later confirmed 24 fatalities, including two rescuers and four police officers. Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-installed head of the region, did not comment on the strike.
Rescue teams working at the Komyshuvakha site were forced to halt operations multiple times due to Russian drone attacks in the area. Zelensky said the strike demonstrated that Russia does not want de-escalation, adding that Russia could not have been unaware that residents received weekly humanitarian aid at the site. The Russian military has not publicly commented on the attack.
The intensified strikes come as the conflict enters its third year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Authorities in the Zaporizhzhia region reported 68 cases of damage to homes, vehicles, and infrastructure facilities from the 24-hour period of attacks.
