Ukraine releases officer’s bodycam footage of deadly Komyshuvakha strike

Ukraine’s police have released bodycam footage from an officer killed in Monday’s bombing of Komyshuvakha. The village is in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the Russian strike had killed 40 people. More than 30 might still be under the rubble, he said.

The attack on 2 November hit an aid centre in a former school and a shelter, Ukrainian officials said. The site was used to hand out aid each Monday, Zelensky said.

The state rescue service said four police officers and two rescue workers were among the dead.

The moments before the blast

Police said the video showed the gap between two Russian bomb strikes. It came from the camera worn by one of the officers who died.

The BBC said it showed people going into the shelter after the first strike. BBC Verify checked where it was filmed. The site matched footage made by rescue crews after the attack.

Zelensky said Russian forces first dropped bombs as people came to collect aid. They then struck the shelter, he said.

Mykhailo Semikin, the acting regional chief, said a direct hit caused the concrete shelter below ground to collapse.

The death toll rose as crews searched the site. Euronews cited police as saying at least 37 had died. Zelensky put the toll at 40 on Wednesday.

Russia’s claim

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it had struck Ukrainian troops around the village. It said up to 25 troops were killed, The Moscow Times reported.

Ukraine’s account is that the bombs hit an aid centre and a shelter.

Zelensky said on Wednesday that the world had shown little response to the attack. Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the strike and sent its condolences, Ukrinform reported.

Talks due next week

Zelensky also said he had spoken with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The call came ahead of planned talks in Abu Dhabi.

Teams from Ukraine, Russia and the US are due to meet on 10 and 11 November, he said.