Ukraine’s rescuers deal with grim aftermath of aid shelter bombings as Moscow pounds energy targets

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Rescuers worked for a second night in a desperate search for survivors Tuesday at an aid distribution site destroyed by a series of Russian attacks in a village in southern Ukraine. The death toll reached 31 as they removed bodies throughout the day and looked for dozens of people still missing.

Monday’s attacks on a shelter and former school with bunker-busting bombs came as people were lined up for aid in Komyshuvakha, a village in the Zaporizhzhia region. Teams of emergency workers and volunteers picked through debris at the cratered blast sites, as bodies were pulled from the rubble and carried away in white plastic sheeting. More than 45 residents remained missing.

“The scale of the tragedy is terrifying,” said Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the region’s military administration, in an online post. “This is one of the worst tragedies in terms of the number of civilian victims in our region since the start of the full-scale war.”

As Ukraine prepared for a new round of U.S.-brokered peace negotiations next week, more than 4 1/2 years after Russia’s all-out invasion, a wave of strikes overnight into Tuesday targeted power plants across the country, damaged hospitals and wounded scores of people.

Russia launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions, triggering emergency power cuts, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an online post that noted the barrage coincided with the U.S. midterm elections.

“The Russians think America won’t notice this signal of theirs,” he said. “But we need to notice and stop such terror. We need to help Ukraine defend its skies; otherwise, Russia will never stop its missile strikes.”

A volunteer describes the aftermath

Baptist pastor Vladyslav Makhovskyi joined the search for survivors, removing bodies and helping elderly Komyshuvakha residents swaddled in blankets.

He told The Associated Press the attack on the shelter was “truly devastating” and a shock to residents who had sought cover there.

The shelter was sturdy and had provided internet access and other assistance, and “was a place they trusted,” Makhovskyi said.

“People even came there to spend the night because they felt safer there,” he added. “I’d been in that school and its underground shelters many times.”

It was struck by a Russian bomb “so powerful that it broke through the heavily reinforced concrete blocks,” he said. “The job’s not done. There are more (bodies) in there.”

Bodies wrapped in white plastic sheets were carried from the ruins and laid in rows as smoke drifted across the shattered landscape. Rescue efforts were interrupted Tuesday by menacing Russian drones, forcing soldiers to halt recovery operations and open fire to try to bring them down.

Three days of mourning were declared in Zaporizhzhia. The dead included four police officers and two rescue workers, Semikin said. At least five people were hurt.

Zelenskyy had said on X that the strikes first targeted the former school that was used for regular distributions of humanitarian aid and then took aim at a nearby shelter.

“This is further proof that Russia wants no de-escalation,” he said.

Attacks intensified after humanitarian ceasefire

The attack came after the expiration of a six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky that allowed trapped residents to evacuate. It was the most significant truce between Kyiv and Moscow since 2022.

“We offered to Russia to extend the cease-fire in Oleshky, but this was the answer: new attacks, new strikes, new killings of our people,” Zelenskyy said in Berlin, where he met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and attended a security conference.

In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, a Russian missile and drone attack wounded at least 62 people, local authorities said.

A strike damaged a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district, shattered windows in four apartment buildings and damaged cars. More than 200 patients were transferred to other medical facilities, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the regional military administration.

In the Dnipro area, rescuers pulled a woman alive from the rubble Tuesday morning, after a Russian attack killed one person and wounded 17, local authorities said.

The attack damaged an outpatient clinic and a hospital. Patients were transferred to other hospitals, Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, said.

Power plants pounded in latest barrage

Russia attacked more power plants and other infrastructure ahead of winter, causing extensive damage and electricity outages as it carried out 20 strikes in 10 regions overnight, Ukraine’s energy ministry said.

Ukrainian power utility DTEK said three of its power plants halted operations. No injuries were reported.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 856 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 493 drones were fired toward the capital.

A Ukrainian drone attack wounded two employees at an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, regional Gov. Mikhail Yevrayev said, adding there was damage to the refinery’s infrastructure.

Rolling blackouts have been instituted in the south, west and east of Russian-occupied Crimea following attacks on energy infrastructure, Moscow-installed officials said.

Zelenskyy consults with Europeans ahead of peace talks

Zelenskyy’s trip to Germany began a new round of consultations with European leaders ahead of U.S.-mediated peace talks Nov. 10-11 in Abu Dhabi.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, confirmed the dates of the talks, with negotiations to focus on postwar security arrangements, de-escalation and humanitarian efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed a Russian delegation will attend.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s priorities for the talks were halting strikes on energy and critical infrastructure, unblocking Black Sea grain shipments and expanding prisoner exchanges.

He said he hoped those talks and other diplomatic efforts would pave the way for trilateral talks among the countries leaders, which he said were needed to resolve key issues.

“Europe’s involvement in the process — in achieving peace — is essential,” he said. “We are doing everything possible to ensure that we have a common European view of all the security challenges and of how this war should end and what its outcome should be.”

Zelenskyy told the Berlin Security Conference that even though his country is experiencing an extremely difficult period, “Ukraine will never surrender.”

Asked if he still believes the U.S. can bring an end to the war, Zelenskyy replied: “President Trump is still president.” He added that “America has huge influence and power” to push Russian President Vladimir Putin toward negotiations.”

Russia agreed last month to resume three-way negotiations with Washington and Kyiv aimed at ending the war, setting up the first such talks since February.

The European Commission said it would host a meeting Wednesday with officials from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the European Union, NATO, the United States and the World Bank to discuss postwar reconstruction in Ukraine. Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation would attend.

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Moulson reported from Berlin. Susie Blann in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Elise Morton and Brian Melley in London contributed.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine