Police identify 30 of 55 bodies recovered from Komyshuvakha airstrike
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Thirty of the 55 bodies of victims recovered from the rubble of a Nov. 2 Russian airstrike on Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, have been identified so far, as the rescue operation to recover more bodies continues, the oblast's police department said on Nov. 9.
Nineteen more bodies could still be under the rubble, according to the regional police. The final death toll is yet to be established.
One week ago, Russian forces struck the front-line village of Komyshuvakha several times.
Russian forces struck a humanitarian aid center — a school building — with guided aerial bombs as residents were receiving aid. When police officers and rescue workers rushed in to help the injured, Russia struck again, Ukrainian authorities said. In this double-tap attack, nine more bombs struck a shelter where people were taking cover, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian forces carried out ten aerial bomb strikes, first using FAB-500 bombs, before deploying a FAB-3000 — a 3-ton bomb containing nearly 1.5 tons of explosives with a blast radius of up to 250 meters. A direct hit caused the shelter's underground concrete structure to collapse.
Located about a 30-minute drive from Zaporizhzhia, Komyshuvakha is about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) from the front and was home to around 5,000 people before the full-scale war.
The search and rescue operation remains difficult due to the high threat of Russian aerial bombs and first-person view (FPV) drone attacks in the village.
"Emergency and rescue operations are being hindered by Russian drones, which constantly attack security forces and the equipment involved," the regional police said in its Telegram statement.
On Nov. 7, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said it identified Cl. Fedor Zubakov, head of the fire-strike planning group at the headquarters of Russia's Dnepr Group of Forces, as the officer who planned the attack.
HUR also identified six Russian pilots allegedly responsible for carrying out the bombing, including Cpt. Sergei Yeliseyev, Cpt. Dmitry Zverev, Sr. Lt. Rodion Plotnikov, Sr. Lt. Nikita Ignatyev, Sr. Lt. Maksim Sokolenko, and Lt. Vadim Perekhrest.
At least four Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers were involved in the operation, according to the intelligence agency.
The Su-34 is a multifunctional fighter-bomber used to deploy different types of guided bombs (KAB) and high-explosive bombs (FAB), as well as air-to-surface missiles. It can also be used for reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions.
