A Russian drone strike on an ammunition depot near Kyiv triggered a detonation that killed at least 37 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The blast was the deadliest Russian strike in the Kyiv area this year and the second such depot detonation in two months, as Moscow's air assault on the capital region stretched into a third straight day.
At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone attack on an ammunition depot near Kyiv sparked a detonation, Zelenskyy said on Saturday. He vowed to punish suspected negligence in what he called the second such incident in two months.
The strike hit the village of Myla late on Friday. Dozens were also injured and hundreds were evacuated from the area, Zelenskyy said, and nearby residential buildings and a facility for elderly and disabled people suffered significant damage. The attack sparked widespread fires, officials said, and among those killed was the head of a neighboring village who rushed to help.
According to CNBC: "terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people", Zelenskyy said in a video address.
Second depot detonation in two months
The site of Friday's blast was a military facility that held artillery shells, mines and drones, Zelenskyy added. It followed a similar incident in the Kyiv-area town of Vyshneve last month, when 10 people were killed and hundreds of houses were damaged after a strike triggered secondary explosions.
Zelenskyy called the repeat incident unacceptable and said he expects the details to be presented to the public promptly. Criminal cases have already been opened on charges of official negligence, he added. Ukraine's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that all those responsible for weapons storage should complete a full audit of their locations.
Drone swarms grip Kyiv for days
Nine other regions were targeted in overnight strikes by Russia, Zelenskyy said, adding that Kyiv in particular was under virtually non-stop attack from jet-powered drones. Russia has escalated its air war on Ukraine with growing numbers of elusive ballistic missiles and new high-speed drones, which Kyiv lacks the air defenses to shoot down.
On Saturday, sirens blared throughout the morning and afternoon for a third straight day as Ukraine's air force warned of new waves of approaching drones. Kyiv region governor Tymur Tkachenko said a 14-year-old girl was killed in a morning drone strike on the Boryspil district. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a 2-year-old girl was killed by a downed drone in the capital.
Strikes in and around the city on Thursday and Friday had damaged residential buildings and storage facilities belonging to major retailers, part of what some Ukrainian officials described as a campaign aimed at paralyzing the city of several million.
Source: CNBC
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