Russian strike on Ukrainian aid distribution point killed four, Kyiv says

Four people were killed in a Russian attack on a humanitarian aid distribution point in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

The General Prosecutor’s office said it had opened a criminal case into war crimes after the attack on the town of Orikhiv, which it said was carried out on Sunday afternoon.

Regional Governor Yuriy Malashko said a guided aviation bomb was used in the attack on a school building being used as an aid distribution point.

Malashko said on the Telegram messaging app that three women and a man, all in their 40s, had been killed.

The General Prosecutor’s office said 13 had also been wounded.

Images from the scene posted by the interior ministry online showed rubble and debris scattered across a courtyard and street.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, denies deliberately targeting civilians.

Ukraine’s military is conducting a counteroffensive to try to retake Russian-occupied territory in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Reporting by Dan Peleshchuk in Kyiv, additional reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Timothy Heritage