A Russian bombing raid flattened a school being used as a humanitarian aid center in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast on Monday, killing at least 24 people in what Kyiv Independent called an "exceptionally horrific strike" on civilians.

Ukraine's emergency services agency said the first bomb hit the village of Komyshuvakha, where residents gather weekly for aid distributions, according to Al Jazeera's reporting. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that as rescue crews and residents gathered at the site, Russian forces returned and dropped nine more aerial bombs directly onto the shelter where people had taken refuge.

Among the 24 dead were a police officer and two State Emergency Service rescuers who had responded to the first strike, regional Governor Mykhailo Semikin said. Five more people were injured, and Semikin said 27 others are still considered missing as search crews dig through the rubble.

'Russia Is Counting on More Killings'

Zelensky said Russia "could not have been unaware" that the site hosted a weekly aid distribution attended by the same residents every time. "This is yet further proof that Russia does not want any kind of de-escalation, any real justice," he said, adding that Moscow had squandered a chance to show progress toward peace was possible after a recent humanitarian operation in the town of Oleshky.

"RUSSIA IS COUNTING ON MORE KILLINGS."

Russia's Ministry of Defense did not directly address the Komyshuvakha strike. It said separately that its air defenses shot down 212 Ukrainian drones overnight, and the governor of Russia's Samara region reported repelling a drone attack of its own. Moscow has consistently denied deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians throughout the war.

The attack came on a day of other strikes across the country, according to live updates tracked from Kyiv. In the Kharkiv region, drone strikes injured 12 people and damaged a refrigeration facility, greenhouses and homes. In Odesa, five people were hurt when a warehouse and nearby houses were hit.

A Fragile Truce Unravels

The Zaporizhzhia strike lands as a localized Russia-Ukraine truce has collapsed and the southern city of Kherson braces for renewed fighting. Zelensky has published an open letter to Vladimir Putin requesting a direct meeting, so far without a response. Air-raid alert apps in both Ukraine and Russia have also been hit by cyberattacks spreading fake doomsday warnings in the days since the truce broke down.

There was no immediate word on whether international monitors or the United Nations would investigate Monday's strike. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly asked international bodies to classify strikes on clearly marked aid sites as war crimes, though no such determination has been made in this case.

Rescue operations in Komyshuvakha were continuing into Monday evening, with the death toll expected to be updated as crews work through the debris and the 27 missing are accounted for.