Russian airstrike on school during aid distribution a war crime, says Governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia

A Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine killed four adults as people gathered to receive humanitarian aid, the Governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said on Monday, branding the incident “a war crime”.

A Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine killed four adults as people gathered to receive humanitarian aid, the Governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region said on July 10, branding the incident "a war crime”.

Three women and a man, all in their 40s, died in the July 9 attack in the town of Orikhiv, Governor Yuriy Malashko said.

A guided aerial bomb caused an explosion at the school, Mr. Malashko said. No evidence was provided. Eleven other people were wounded in the attack.

Overall, Russia fired on 10 settlements in the province over the course of a day, he said.

Moscow denies it targets civilian locations. Russia has been accused numerous times of doing so and committing other war crimes since its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Broad investigations are also underway in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, located in The Hague, is helping with those investigations.