Russia targets emergency crews at the site of a deadly strike in southern Ukraine

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone struck emergency workers on rescue missions in southern Ukraine on Sunday, hitting a former school and nearby shelter that had been earlier blasted by multiple Russian guided bombs as residents waited for humanitarian aid, authorities said.

Ukraine said Monday's attack killed at least 55 people in the village of Komyshuvakha, near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.

No one was injured in Sunday's strike on the same location, but specialized rescue equipment was damaged, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

Around 50 people were still listed as missing, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, HUR, said. Many of the bodies recovered have not been identified and DNA analysis is ongoing.

Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he was still looking for his wife, but had heard no word from rescuers.

“She went to get humanitarian aid, and a 3-ton bomb was dropped there. Where is she?” he said. “She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there. She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”

HUR said Saturday that it had identified some of the Russian service members involved in the “double tap" strike with aerial bombs, which destroyed the former school and underground facility used by residents as shelter.

Ukraine has routinely accused Russia of conducting multiple strikes at the same site in quick succession to target emergency crews responding to the initial attack.

On Saturday, police officers and relatives gathered in Zaporizhzhia for a farewell ceremony for six officers killed in Russian strikes on Komyshuvakha, including four who died near the former school.

Rain fell as families wept beside the coffins, and officers held portraits of their fallen colleagues.

“They used every skill at their disposal to protect themselves. But when the enemy deliberately gathered civilians in one place and then launched strikes against them, no skills could have helped,” said Andrii Khomenko, a police lieutenant colonel who had worked alongside the victims.

Yuliia Nykonenko, a senior police lieutenant, said the officers had risked their lives to save others, including children. She said they had once escaped a Russian FPV drone together.

The community also said goodbye to three residents among the dead. They were buried near one another, in a part of the Zaporizhzhia cemetery where authorities plan to create a memorial.

Among those mourning was Yurii Karapetian, a community leader whose wife, Natalia Karapetian, was killed. He said she was distributing bread to those in the shelter when the Russian bombs struck.

“This pain, I would say, is unbearable,” he said.

He said his wife chose to stay in Komyshuvakha to help other residents, many of them elderly and living alone. He also urged the international community to act.

“The whole world must understand that if (the Russians) are not stopped, they will not stop. They will not stop at Ukraine. They will not stop anywhere,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday called the attack on emergency crews in Komyshuvakha “absolute cynicism and brutality.”

In a post on X, Zelenskyy also said that overnight Russian strikes on energy infrastructure in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region had left more than 600,000 people without power. Other regions also faced outages.

Russia launched 115 missiles, 1,900 guided aerial bombs and more than 3,000 drones against Ukraine in the past week, he said. Many of the missiles had been produced this year, he added, calling on Kyiv's partners to sanction entities involved in their production.

“If the world does not have enough anti-ballistic capabilities to protect Ukrainian skies, then the missiles must be stopped on the production lines," he said, urging the European Union to impose a strong 22nd package of sanctions against Russia.

The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest in Europe, has lost its external power supply after a damaged power line was disconnected for safety, the plant’s management reported Sunday.

It said the plant was powered by backup diesel generators since an automatic protection system shut down the damaged Ferosplavna line.

The plant went offline soon after being captured by Russia early in the war, but needs power to keep essential cooling systems running. Its external power supply has been periodically severed, raising fears of a nuclear accident in case of protracted outages, as Moscow and Kyiv blamed each other for strikes that damaged nearby power lines.

This story corrects the number of police officers killed in the strike on the former school.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Family members cry beside the coffins of police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Kindergarten personnel cleaning debris inside a heavily damaged class following a missile attack on a residential area in Kyiv, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)

Family members cry beside the coffins of police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Colleagues, friends and family members pay their last respects to police officers Dmytro Besedin, Mykhailo Buzhenko, Mykola Balanda and Mykhailo Romanov, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school, and Serhii Berezhko and Oleg Dubetskyi, killed in an FPV drone attack in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony on Khortytsia Island in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A family member cries beside the coffins of Viktor Fomenko, Natalia Karapetian and Andrii Anikin, killed in a Russian airstrike that destroyed an underground school in Komyshuvakha, during a farewell ceremony in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Poland began two days of national mourning on Sunday, after a 24-year-old man with far-right views drove into a busy central square in Krakow and opened fire, killing six people and wounding 15 others before police shot and wounded him.

The attack, which Poland’s defense minister described as an “act of terror,” happened on Saturday in Main Square, which is in the heart of Krakow’s Old Town and is a major tourist hub in the country’s second-largest city.

By evening, mourners had left candles in memory of the victims. The square remained partially closed on Sunday morning as authorities continued their investigation.

St. Mary’s Trumpet Call, a traditional five-note melody played every hour from the highest tower of St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Square, was paused overnight in tribute to the victims. It is the first time the call has been missed since World War II.

Marie-Ange Collaer wrote on Facebook that she and her family survived the shooting during a trip to Krakow from Brussels.

“We literally ran for our lives and managed to hide from the bullets flying around,” she wrote. “Lying on the floor in a shop like in a bad police movie whilst you hear bullets everywhere.”

Collaer said her family was shaky and “quite in shock” after returning to their hotel but everyone was grateful to be alive.

“We saw a few that did not make it, true horror,” she wrote.

U.K. resident Neil Thaxton and his wife, Nicky, also survived the attack.

“We had just walked through the main square and heard the gunshots,” Thaxton wrote on Facebook. “We thought it was fireworks then people started running, we went into a gift shop and the staff took us in the back of the shop and locked the doors and turned the lights off.”

The prosecutors said on Sunday they started an investigation for murder and attempted murder of numerous people, including police officers, with the act “constituting a terrorist offense.”

Authorities also found three dead bodies at the man's family home in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, a city about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Krakow. The police said on Sunday they were the bodies of the attacker's sister, mother and father.

The family members likely died from gunshot wounds, the police said.

Four women and two men were killed in the Main Square shooting. Three of the women and one of the men were Polish, Krzysztof Jan Klęczar, the Malopolska regional governor, said on Sunday. A man from the U.K. and a woman from an unidentified foreign country were also among the dead.

The two police officers who stopped the attacker, in actions authorities hailed as heroic, remain in hospital. One of them is still in a coma while the other woke up from a coma, Klęczar said. Officials launched an appeal for blood donations for the benefit of the most seriously wounded policeman.

“If it weren’t for the efficient and selfless intervention of these two young men, the number of victims could have been significantly higher,” Klęczar said.

Five non-Poles are among the wounded. They come from the U.K., Portugal, Russia, Germany and Austria.

The attacker is also in a critical state, having been operated on multiple times.

There was confusion on Saturday about the shooter's age, with authorities first saying 24 and later 25. On Sunday they confirmed that he is 24.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said the attacker holds “very radical” and “ultranationalistic” views.

“Everything indicates that he was fascinated by far-right ideologies,” Kierwiński said at a news conference.

Videos posted on social media by witnesses show people running away from the square to take cover on small streets nearby, as well as first responders trying to resuscitate victims. In one video, a police officer is seen repeatedly shooting the attacker, who is lying on the street, only to later slowly collapse to the ground himself.

Klęczar said the attacker's father owned over 10 guns legally and that the attacker also owned guns. Local officials in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski said they seized seven weapons from the family home, bringing the total number recovered to 11, including four found in the possession of the attacker in Krakow or in his car.

Starachowice, about 30 kilometers from the attacker’s hometown where he is believed to have trained, issued a statement on Sunday saying it offered only “static shooting,” which involves firing from a fixed position at a stationary target. The club added that the suspect “was never trained in our club in the areas of dynamic, tactical or combat shooting.”

Around 411,000 people hold gun permits in Poland, which has a population of 37 million, and interest in gun ownership has been rising.

Mass shootings are uncommon in Poland. However, in mid-October three attacks at schools in the central province of Mazovia took place within four days, leaving one person dead and many wounded, including children. The young attackers used knives or other sharp objects.

The Krakow attacker’s military gear, guns and overall look were similar to those of other “extreme right lone actors” committing attacks around Europe, said Kacper Rekawek, a senior researcher at the International Center for Counterterrorism in The Hague.

“We have had attempts before, but now we can say that these kinds of attacks have become successful in Poland.”

Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press journalist Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

Police officers stand at the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A woman lights a candle near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

The flag of Poland flies at half-mast at the town hall in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

Candles stand near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A back flag hangs at a house near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A police barrier tape is fixed at a broken storefront window near the market square in Krakow, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026, where several people were shot the day before. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

Forensic investigators work next to police privacy screens in a cordoned off area after a shooter opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)

A forensic investigator takes photos next to the vehicle allegedly used by a shooter who opened fire in a market square in Krakow, Poland, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, leaving people dead and injured, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Beata Zawrzel)