Ukraine’s leader says Russian “insane attack” on aid center may have killed 70 people, pleads for air defenses

November 4, 2026 / 11:53 AM EST / CBS News

Kyiv — The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian aid distribution center climbed to 40, President Zelenskyy said in a Wednesday post on social media. Zelenskyy said Russia dropped nine bombs on an old school being used to distribute humanitarian aid in Ukraine's southeast Zaporizhzhia region on Monday.

"They first struck people who had come to receive humanitarian aid, and then first responders and police officers who arrived at the scene," Zelenskyy wrote, noting that rescue efforts were still ongoing Wednesday afternoon, and "more than 30 people may still be under the rubble."

Russia's Defense Ministry said a strike in the area targeted Ukraine's military, and it claimed that as many as 25 Ukrainian service members were killed. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, despite strikes regularly hitting apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure.

On Tuesday, Russia launched one of its largest attacks of the year on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, hitting facilities in 10 different regions, according to Ukraine's energy ministry.

The attacks affected the Ukrainian capital's water supply, with Kyiv residents losing running water in their homes for more than 16 hours. Kyivvodokanal, the city's water…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/