The UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine says civilians seeking aid and first responders must never be a target
United NationsMatthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, in a statement
Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, condemns the air strikes on Komyshuvakha and says civilians seeking support and the first responders who come to help must never be a target.
Responding to
Russian forces dropped aerial bombs on a school in Komyshuvakha where residents were receiving humanitarian aid, then struck a shelter where people had taken cover, and could not have been unaware that residents received aid there every week.
“Civilians seeking support and first responders coming to the rescue must never be a target.”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Ukraine says a Russian strike on a Komyshuvakha school used for aid killed at least 31; Moscow says it hit Ukrainian units
Ukrainian officials and UN monitors say Russian aerial bombs struck a school used to distribute aid in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, on November 2, 2026, then a shelter, killing at least 31 people. Russia's Defence Ministry says it hit Ukrainian military units near the village.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Matthias Schmale writes that Russian air strikes on the morning of November 2 reportedly killed at least 29 civilians, most of them residents who came for aid at a local school and staff of the local administration, and that later strikes on the same spot killed two rescuers and four police staff. He says both the school and a nearby shelter were hit.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Schmale writes that air strikes by Russian forces on the morning of November 2 reportedly killed at least 29 civilians, most of them residents who came for aid at a local school, and that later strikes on the same spot killed two rescuers and four police staff.
After the quotation
He writes that civilian facilities, including humanitarian assistance, must be respected and protected under international humanitarian law.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is the November 2 strike on the Komyshuvakha school used for aid and the shelter beside it. The statement condemns the strikes and says civilians seeking aid and rescuers must never be targeted.
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- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation
More from this case
Read the full caseUN monitors say the Komyshuvakha attack seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law
UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine
“Either the Russian armed forces knew that there was a humanitarian distribution taking place, or they failed to take the most basic steps to find out what was happening in this village they were planning to attack. In either case, this attack seems to have violated the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”Read statement
Sybiha calls the Komyshuvakha strike another barbaric and utterly cynical Russian attack
“Another barbaric and utterly cynical Russian attack. Russia's brutality knows no limits, and its contempt for human life is beyond any moral justification.”Read statement
Zelenskyy says Russian forces could not have been unaware that residents received aid at the bombed school every week
“The Russians could not have been unaware that every week, local residents who had remained in Komyshuvakha received humanitarian aid at that very location.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "The UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine says civilians seeking aid and first responders must never be a target". First published: 2026-11-04. Last updated: 2026-11-04. https://disputeindex.com/events/8093-matthias-schmale-the-un-humanitarian-coordinator-for-ukraine