Komyshuvakha Air Strike: Police Identify 30 Victims as Intelligence Names Suspects

More than a week after the Nov. 2 air strike on a humanitarian aid point in the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia district, rescuers are still searching the site. As of Nov. 9, the bodies of 55 people had been recovered and 30 of them identified, the National Police in the Zaporizhzhia region said. Police said a further 19 people may still be under the rubble, and the final death toll has not been established.

What happened on Nov. 2

According to Ukrainian authorities, the strike hit as people gathered to receive humanitarian aid. The distribution point was housed in an underground building that served as an underground school until February 2026. Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, quoted by the UNN news agency, described a deliberate, combined attack of at least nine strikes, beginning with FAB-500 bombs and followed by FAB-3000 bombs designed to destroy concrete fortifications.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Russian forces must have known that aid was handed out at the site every week. The UN human rights monitoring mission noted, according to media reports, that local authorities had announced the distribution on a social media channel with nearly 5,000 followers. Russia's Defence Ministry said its strikes targeted Ukrainian military units around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements, international news agencies reported. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.

A search under fire

Rescuers are working under constant threat. Key facts about the operation so far:

• the State Emergency Service said the bodies of nine more people were recovered in the 24 hours to Nov. 6, bringing the toll to 55;
• 29 victims had been identified by Nov. 8 and 30 by Nov. 9, Ukrinform reported;
• Russian drones attacked emergency service teams at the site three times, injuring two rescuers;
• police say drones are constantly targeting officers and equipment, so anti-drone units are guarding the work;
• The Associated Press reported that a Russian strike damaged heavy equipment being used to clear the rubble.

Semikin said on Nov. 5 that seven people who had been reported missing after the attack had been found. The search for others continues with the help of dog teams.

Who Ukrainian intelligence names

On Nov. 7, Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, said it had identified Russian servicemen allegedly involved in the strike. According to HUR, the attack was planned by Colonel Fyodor Zubakov, head of the fire-strike planning group at the headquarters of Russia's Dnepr group of forces. The agency also published the names of six Su-34 crew members it says dropped the bombs, adding that the crew of another aircraft was still being identified.

HUR said the aircraft belonged to a tactical aviation group formed from units of the 11th Mixed Aviation Regiment and the 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment of Russia's 4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army. These claims come from Ukrainian intelligence, have not been independently verified, and Russia has not commented on them.

Why it matters

The Komyshuvakha strike is one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent months. Aid distribution points near the front line are often the only source of food and water for people who remain in frontline communities, so their safety directly affects thousands of residents.

The Zaporizhzhia region remains one of the most heavily shelled parts of Ukraine. In the 24 hours to the morning of Nov. 9 alone, regional authorities quoted by Ukrinform reported 819 Russian attacks on settlements in the region, injuring six people. The FAB-3000 that Ukrainian officials say was used in Komyshuvakha is a three-tonne aerial bomb, one of the most powerful in Russia's arsenal. The situation in the region and supplies for its communities were also discussed at President Zelensky's meeting with regional governors on Nov. 8.

Ukraine links the publication of the suspects' names to future efforts to hold those responsible to account. Investigators are continuing their work, and a final toll will only be known once the search, repeatedly disrupted by drone attacks, is complete.