Zelenskyy says 40 dead at Zaporizhzhia aid site, with 30 still buried

Rescue crews are still digging through the wreckage of an old school in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where Russia dropped nine bombs on a humanitarian aid distribution point Monday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday the death toll now stands at 40, with more than 30 people possibly still trapped under the rubble.

Zelenskyy described a deliberate double tap: strikes on civilians lined up for aid, then on the rescuers and police who rushed in. 'They first struck people who had come to receive humanitarian aid, and then first responders and police officers who arrived at the scene,' he wrote. He called it an 'insane attack' and said the world's response has been far too quiet.

Russia's Defense Ministry told a different story, saying its strike in the area hit Ukrainian military targets and claiming as many as 25 Ukrainian service members were killed. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians — a claim undercut by repeated strikes on apartment blocks and other civilian infrastructure. Zelenskyy promised Ukraine would answer the attack.

The bombardment didn't stop there. On Tuesday, Russia fired off one of its largest attacks of the year on Ukraine's energy grid, hitting facilities across 10 regions, according to Ukraine's energy ministry. Kyiv lost running water for more than 16 hours; the city's utility, Kyivvodokanal, said supply and sewage pumping stations came back online Wednesday afternoon.

Diplomacy is grinding along in parallel. Ukrainian and Russian representatives will head to the White House on Friday to meet with first lady Melania Trump, who brokered a temporary ceasefire last week to let civilians evacuate and aid flow into Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, officials in both capitals said. Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and Davyd Arakhamiia, who leads Zelenskyy's parliamentary faction, will attend, according to Ukrinform. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova would represent Russia, though visa snags could complicate the trip.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that the first lady will receive the Order of Princess Olga, 1st Class, Ukraine's top honor for women, for her role in the limited ceasefire. And with Democrats now controlling both chambers of the U.S. Congress, he renewed his push for missile interceptors and other military support. 'Evil always goes further if it is left unanswered,' he wrote on X. 'We count on a response – Ukraine needs air defense support right now.'