Russian drone and glide-bomb attacks unnerve villages south of Zaporizhzhia
On November 2, nine Russian glide bombs struck Komyshuvakha, a town about 40km south of Zaporizhzhia, in one of this year’s deadliest attacks in Ukraine, killing at least 50 people. Many had gathered at a local school to receive humanitarian aid; several remain missing and are feared dead under the rubble. Villages south of the regional capital, once a place of relative safety, now face a rising mix of bombs and First-Person-View drones.
Last week, displaced resident Volodymyr fled Preobrazhenka, just over 40km from a shelter in Zaporizhzhia. He said he was in a cellar when drones began bombing, and he was burned. He recalls only eight people remaining in his village. FPV drones overhead are often treated as a sign of a gradual Russian infantry advance; well-documented footage shows them targeting vehicles and civilians. Ukrainians say drones have stalked people in Kherson, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, and Zaporizhzhia is showing similar warning signs.
The city administration has installed anti-drone netting over streets and civilian infrastructure in the Cosmos neighbourhood, and netting also covers petrol stations and businesses along the Pryberezhna Highway. Denys Knysh, a regional military administration official, said authorities may relocate Volodymyr’s shelter if conditions worsen and are ready to evacuate the city; many residents there are elderly or have limited mobility, and some lack documents needed to move. Earlier the same day as interviews, Russian Banderol missiles — low-cost, jet-powered cruise missiles — struck a shopping mall and the main bridge into the city, and an FPV drone hit a city bus. Alina, who works in a flower shop under netting, and Nataliia, a petrol-station employee, described daily drone flights. Since the war began, Zaporizhzhia has sheltered thousands of internally displaced people from occupied cities such as Mariupol and Melitopol; some now face leaving again as the security situation deteriorates.
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