KYIV — Ukraine said Monday that Russian strikes on a school distributing humanitarian aid killed at least 26 people, dashing fragile hopes of “progress toward peace” after a local ceasefire in the south expired without violations.

Russia resumed its strikes on the southern region of Kherson after the end of a ceasefire in the area, the longest truce in the war raging between the neighbours since Russia’s 2022 invasion, Kyiv said.

A rare pause in the fighting, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump to enable a mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ended Sunday after starting on Tuesday, with neither side reporting breaches.

But hours after the truce, Russia targeted a village in Zaporizhzhia, adjacent to Kherson, with repeated strikes that killed at least 26 people, the acting regional governor said.

Some of the dead had come to collect aid at a local school.

Footage posted by the Ukrainian emergency services showed the building reduced to piles of smouldering rubble and rescuers working at the site.

“Every Monday, humanitarian aid was distributed to people there,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address.

“The Russians carried out the first strike just as people arrived — several aerial bombs. Then, there was a repeat strike — more aerial bombs, this time targeting the shelter.”

Among those killed were “two rescue workers and four police officers”, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram.

The service named the rescuers as two 44-year-olds: Denys Konovalenko and Oleksy Sushchevsky.