Ukraine says Zaporizhia aid centre strike death toll has climbed to at least 50

The death toll from a Russian strike on an aid distribution centre in Ukraine's Zaporizhia region has climbed to at least 50 people, Ukrainian authorities have said, placing it among the deadliest Russian attacks of the year.

Ukraine's emergency service announced on Friday that eight more bodies had been pulled from the rubble of Monday's strike on the village of Komyshuvakha, raising the confirmed toll. Acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin later put the number of dead at 53, with search teams still working through the debris for a fifth consecutive day. Al Jazeera said it could not independently verify that figure.

Local police said on Wednesday that 59 people had been reported missing, though they cautioned that some of those individuals may be among the bodies already recovered. "As many as 39 people may still remain trapped under the debris," police said.

Specialists have been collecting DNA samples to identify the victims as the rescue effort continues, with ongoing Russian attacks posing a persistent threat to those working at the site.

According to Kyiv, Russian aircraft bombed a former school near the front lines on Monday that civilians used for weekly aid handouts. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a second wave of bombs then struck the underground shelter where people had fled for protection, accounting for most of the destruction.

"After the first aerial bomb strike, there was a double-tap strike with nine more bombs, specifically targeting the shelter where people were taking cover," Zelenskyy wrote on X. Four police officers and two rescue workers were among those killed.

Zelenskyy condemned the attack as a "vile terrorist strike" and said it demonstrated Moscow's refusal to halt the fighting. The UN human rights mission in Ukraine also said the strike was likely a violation of international law.

Monday's attack came just a day after a six-day ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky expired. Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging drone attacks on Thursday, with several people injured on both sides, including a child. In the eastern Donetsk region, Russian strikes on Wednesday killed four civilians and wounded five more.

Delegations from Kyiv and Moscow are expected to gather in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 for US-brokered talks, though earlier rounds of negotiations have yielded little progress.