Russian forces used guided bombs on a Ukrainian school where civilians were sheltering, killing at least 24 people.
Emergency services said two members of a rescue crew were among the dead in the village of Komyshuvakha.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on Telegram, said Russian forces initially dropped aerial bombs on a school in the village, used for distributing humanitarian assistance.
‘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’, Zelensky wrote.
‘The Russians could not have been unaware that every week residents who have remained in Komyshuvakha were receiving assistance right there. This is yet further proof that Russia does not want any kind of de-escalation, any real justice.’
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The village lies southeast of the region’s main city, also called Zaporizhzhia.
Regina Kharchenko, secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, said 27 people were missing in the attack.
Zaporizhzhia region police said its officers and rescue teams were trying to reach residents believed to be trapped under rubble.
Photographs posted online showed smouldering rubble strewn throughout the area.
The attack occurred a day after the expiry of a six-day local ceasefire brokered by US first lady Melania Trump to bring aid into the embattled city of Oleshky to the southwest in Kherson region and evacuate residents wishing to leave.
Ukrainians received a false alert on their phones warning about an imminent Russian nuclear attack and radiation.
Millions of phones across the war-torn country pinged with the message sent through Ukraine’s Air Alert system yesterday evening.
The message, written in Russian instead of Ukrainian, which is mandatory in official communications, was sent shortly before 11pm local time (9pm GMT), warning of a nuclear attack involving an Oreshnik missile.
Another message sent through the same app warned of radiation and chemical attacks.
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