Rescuers and soldiers retrieved bodies from the site of a destroyed underground school in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Wednesday (November 4) after a Russian air strike that officials said killed at least 40 people and left dozens missing.

The attack on the village of Komyshuvakha on Monday (November 2) was one of the deadliest strikes on civilians in Ukraine this year, according to regional authorities.

Video from the scene showed soldiers loading body bags into a van as rescue teams searched through debris from the former school building, which had been used as a shelter and aid distribution point.

Heavy machinery worked to clear the wreckage while troops kept watch for drones overhead. Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the regional military administration, said rescuers were continuing to search for survivors beneath the rubble.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces first dropped aerial bombs on the school as residents arrived to collect humanitarian aid and then struck the shelter again with additional bombs.

Classes have long since been suspended at the school because of its proximity to the front line, but it served as a shelter and handed out humanitarian aid every Monday, Zelenskiy said. Two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead, emergency services said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said the attack targeted Ukrainian military units around Komyshuvakha and two other settlements, and that up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen were killed.

Russia and Ukraine both deny deliberately targeting civilians.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

KOMYSHUVAKHA, ZAPORIZHZHIA REGION, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 4, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. SOLDIER TALKING ON RADIO, SAYING (Ukrainian) ‘Shall we roll in the van to get the bodies?’ / VOICE SAYING OVER RADIO ‘Yes.’ / SOLDIER SAYING ‘Yes.’

2. VAN REVERSING / BODIES LYING IN BODY BAGS

3. VARIOUS OF BODY BAGS

4. VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS CARRYING BODIES TO VAN

5. DESTROYED CARS, BUILDINGS

6. EXCAVATOR DIGGING ON SITE OF DESTROYED UNDERGROUND SCHOOL

7. BULLDOZER WITH ANTI-DRONE PROTECTION

8. RESCUERS ON SITE

9. DESTROYED UNDERGROUND SCHOOL

10. VARIOUS OF RESCUERS WORKING IN DESTROYED UNDERGROUND SCHOOL

11. SOLDIER ON LOOKOUT FOR DRONES

12. VARIOUS OF RESCUERS WORKING ON SITE

13. POLICE OFFICER LOOKING AT DRONE DETECTOR

14. SOLDIER NEAR DESTROYED CAR

15. BOOKS SEEN IN WINDOW OF DAMAGED BUILDING

16. DESTROYED BUILDING

17. SOLDIERS AND POLICE OFFICERS WALKING NEAR DESTROYED BUILDING

18. DOGS

19. SOLDIER NEAR DESTROYED BUILDING / AUDIO OF EXPLOSION IN DISTANCE

20. VARIOUS OF DESTROYED BUILDINGS

21. VANS DRIVING UNDER ANTI-DRONE NETS