Ukrainian president Zelenskyy says attack on aid hub was ‘vile’ and shows Russia does not want to de-escalate

Russia on Monday bombed an aid distribution centre and neighbouring shelter in southern Ukraine, killing at least 26 ​people, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the country’s emergency services said.

Emergency services said two members of a rescue crew and four police officers were among the dead in the village ⁠of Komyshuvakha, in south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region. Five people were being treated in hospital, including two rescue workers.

Residents of nearby villages line highway waving flags to greet the evacuees’ convoy from the Russian-occupied city

Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky have been reunited with their families after crossing into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday.

The major rescue operation began on Friday and was carried out under the most significant truce since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half years ago.

Kremlin turning to punishment of Ukraine’s population in major cities as frontlines remain frozen

As Russian missiles and drones have systematically slammed into power plants in Kyiv and Kharkiv this week, the rolling blackouts and water outages have increasingly resembled a supposed Russian blueprint to destroy life in major Ukrainian cities seen by the Guardian.

Even as Donald Trump unilaterally declared an “energy ceasefire” last week between Moscow and Kyiv, Russia continued with its methodical and devastating strikes on Ukraine’s power grid, in particular in Kyiv, in a strategy meant to punish Ukraine’s population and drive the country to capitulation.