Ukrainian police release bodycam footage from deadly shelter attack

Ukrainian police have released bodycam footage they say shows the moments before a second bomb strike on a shelter in Komyshuvakha, where an attack on an aid centre and shelter killed at least 40 people.

The footage came from a police officer who was killed in the attack on 2 November in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Ukrainian authorities and the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine have attributed the attack to Russian forces.

According to the BBC, the recording shows damaged buildings and residents heading towards an underground shelter after an initial strike. A warning about incoming bombs is heard over a radio; soon afterwards, an explosion is heard and flames are visible.

BBC Verify said it had matched the location in the bodycam video to footage of the aftermath released by Ukraine’s emergency service. That location match does not by itself establish who carried out the attack or whether the shelter was deliberately targeted.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the death toll had reached 40 and that more than 30 people might still be under the rubble. The search was continuing on 4 November. Ukrainian emergency services said two rescuers and four police officers were among those killed.

The UN mission said civilians had gathered at a school to collect humanitarian aid, with the distribution announced by local authorities the previous day. It said local officials had reported nine aerial bombs striking Komyshuvakha in two waves.

A Russian defence ministry daily report published on 3 November said its forces had hit Ukrainian military formations in areas including Komyshuvakha. Reuters linked the statement to the attack, but the Russian report did not mention the school or shelter, and it is unclear whether it referred to the same strike.