Komyshuvakha School Strike: 42 Dead After Russian Aerial Bombing
Forensic teams are processing DNA samples as rescue workers enter the fourth day of searching the rubble of a school in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
By Jessica Abebe ·
Police in Zaporizhzhia Oblast confirmed on 5 November that 42 bodies have been recovered from a school in Komyshuvakha.
The facility, which had been operating as a humanitarian aid distribution point, was struck by Russian forces on the morning of 2 November. The death toll has risen steadily since the initial attack, with the latest count reflecting the fourth day of ongoing search and rescue operations.
Russian military aviation dropped at least nine guided aerial bombs on the building. The ordnance included FAB-3000 bombs, each weighing three tonnes. Emergency crews reached the site immediately after the first impact, but a second wave of strikes followed. Casualties included local residents, four police officers, and two rescue workers.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast Police stated that specialists from the Missing Persons Search Centre are currently working to identify the deceased. Many of the recovered bodies are damaged beyond visual recognition. Relatives are providing biological samples to allow experts to construct DNA profiles for comparative forensic analysis.
Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration, announced that the number of killed reached 37 by the morning of 4 November. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later raised the toll to 40 on the same day, noting that more than 30 residents remained trapped under the debris.
The police update on 5 November indicated that 33 individuals might still be beneath the rubble. Search teams are continuing their work at the site while forensic experts process the identification data for the 42 confirmed victims.
