Ukraine Truce Ends in Bl0odshed as Russian Str!kes K!ll 26

Ukraine Truce Ends in Bloodshed as Russian Strikes Kill 26

Ukraine said on Monday that multiple Russian strikes on a school being used to distribute humanitarian aid had killed at least 26 people, shattering fragile hopes for “progress toward peace” following the expiration of a local ceasefire in the south without any reported violations.

According to Kyiv, Russia resumed attacks on the southern Kherson region after the end of the truce, which was the longest ceasefire observed in the war since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.

The rare pause in hostilities, reportedly brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump to facilitate a humanitarian mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, began on Tuesday and ended on Sunday. Neither side reported any violations during the ceasefire.

However, just hours after it expired, Russian forces launched repeated strikes on a village in neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, killing at least 26 people, according to the acting regional governor. Several victims were reportedly among civilians who had gathered at a local school to receive humanitarian assistance.

Footage posted by the Ukrainian emergency services showed the building reduced to piles of smouldering rubble and rescuers working at the site.

“Every Monday humanitarian aid was distributed to people there. The Russians carried out the first strike just as people arrived — several aerial bombs. Then there was a repeat strike — more aerial bombs, this time targeting the shelter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address.

Among those killed were “two rescue workers and four police officers”, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram.

The service named the rescuers as two 44-year-olds: Denys Konovalenko and Oleksy Sushchevsky.

“Every day they went out to help people, working in dangerous conditions and risking their own lives to save others,” it said in a statement.

Zelensky said that after the Oleshky truce, “there was a moment when the next steps could have shown that progress toward peace was possible.”

“With these killings, Russia is sending an entirely opposite signal: Russia is counting on more killings. There must be a response to this”.

– Russia fortifies positions –

The ceasefire last week enabled an evacuation of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.

It was the longest pause in fighting between the neighbours in the war, now in its fifth year, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.

A senior Ukrainian figure told AFP Sunday that Russia refused a Ukrainian offer to extend the truce.

Kyiv’s military also alleged that Moscow had used the pause in fighting to “fortify its positions”.

The Kremlin did not deny the accusations, with its spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters Monday: “This is a completely normal practice in such situations.”

He alleged the Ukrainian army had also used pauses in fighting in the past to regroup.

Moscow saw the Oleshky humanitarian mission as “successful”, Peskov added, praising the “good cooperation between all sides” and singling out the role of its human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova.

Lantratova oversaw the ceasefire alongside her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets in one of the most substantial instances of Russian-Ukrainian cooperation since the start of the war.

 

The mission saw people taken both to Ukraine-controlled territory and to Moscow-annexed Crimea.

The Kremlin said that no other similar missions were being planned “at the moment”.

US-led talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume this month.

US President Donald Trump has pushed for a settlement to the dragging war but efforts have not yet led to a breakthrough.

The talks — expected to be held in Abu Dhabi — come as Kyiv and its European allies worry that Trump has increasingly sided with Moscow.

 

– Cyberattacks –

Both Russia and Ukraine said overnight that their emergency warnings apps were hacked in apparent cyberattacks that came after the truce had ended.

Ukraine said it suspected its air raid alert system had been compromised, after baseless alerts of a radiation threat were sent to millions.

The warning system provides vital information about incoming Russian drones and missiles.

Russia has intensified its attacks this year, firing ballistic missiles and fast jet-powered drones, both of which are hard to intercept.

 

Moscow said that an app belonging to its emergency situations ministry that also warns of attacks had been hacked, too.

The app is not widely used in Russia, where warnings of Ukrainian drone attacks are not as common and typically sent by text message in border regions.

AFP