Deadly Strike on Munitions Facility
At least 37 people were killed when a Russian drone strike hit a munitions depot in the town of Myla, located in the Bucha district on the western outskirts of Kyiv, early Saturday. The attack triggered massive secondary explosions, causing a large-scale fire that spread to nearby residential buildings and a local restaurant.
Kyiv region governor Tymur Tkachenko confirmed the death toll on Telegram, noting that rescue operations remain ongoing. Among the victims was Taras Didych, the mayor of the village of Dmytrivska. Authorities reported that approximately 50 residential buildings sustained damage, and nearly 400 people have been evacuated from the immediate strike zone.
Government Investigation into Negligence
The tragedy has sparked significant public and official backlash regarding the safety protocols governing the storage of explosives near civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the incident, labeling the storage of munitions in such proximity to homes as “absolutely unacceptable.” The Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a criminal investigation into “official negligence,” focusing on the legality of the depot’s placement and the permits held by the operating company.
Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi emphasized that this is the second such incident in recent months, referencing a similar deadly depot strike in Vyshneve this past July. “In the fifth year of the full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes over and over is criminal negligence,” Koretskyi stated, demanding that those responsible for the safety failures face severe punishment.
Regional Escalation
The strike on Myla was part of a larger aerial offensive, with the Ukrainian Air Force reporting that Russia launched at least two missiles and 267 drones across the country between late Friday and Saturday. Beyond the warehouse attack, three other people were killed in separate drone strikes in the Kyiv area, including a two-year-old in the Obolonskyi district and a 14-year-old in the Boryspil district.
Simultaneously, the conflict has seen intensified reciprocal strikes. Russian authorities reported that three people were killed in the Belgorod region following a Ukrainian drone attack, while another death was confirmed in the Russian-annexed city of Sevastopol. Furthermore, the Russian logistics giant Ozon reported that one of its centers was hit in a Ukrainian strike, leading to the suspension of operations at multiple facilities.