Russian strike on Kyiv ammunition depot kills 37 as Ukraine opens negligence probe

Strike and secondary explosions in Myla

A Russian drone strike hit a commercial warehouse compound in the village of Myla, located in the Bucha district roughly five kilometres west of Kyiv's city limits, on Friday evening around 20:00 local time. The strike ignited large stockpiles of munitions stored at the site, causing extensive secondary explosions and a fire that spread to surrounding residential buildings and a restaurant. Kyiv Oblast Governor Tymur Tkachenko reported that at least 37 people were killed and more than 40 others sustained injuries.

The casualties were concentrated in adjacent social care facilities. Tkachenko confirmed that 34 of the victims were residents of a neighbouring care home and assisted living facility for people with disabilities. Taras Didytsch, the head of the Dmytrivka municipality, was also among those killed in the explosion. More than 300 emergency rescue workers deployed to the site, evacuating nearly 400 people from the immediate danger zone.

Negligence investigation launched

Ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal inquiry into official negligence to determine whether explosive military hardware was stored unlawfully next to residential housing. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the military depot contained artillery shells, mines, and drones, emphasizing that safety regulations explicitly ban placing such materials near inhabited areas.

Whoever allowed this must be held accountable for their decisions. Ammunition must not be stored near houses or residential areas.

Prime Minister Serhij Korezkyj criticized military logistics managers for failing to heed warnings from an early July strike in Vyshneve, where an explosion at a state-run ammunition storage site killed at least nine people.

In the fifth year of the war, making the exact same mistakes is criminal negligence.

The blast damaged at least 50 residential buildings. Emergency operations forced authorities to shut down the main westbound highway from Kyiv for several hours before police permitted single-lane traffic in both directions on Saturday midday.

Nationwide strikes and cross-border attacks

The attack in Myla occurred as part of a wider overnight bombardment across multiple Ukrainian regions. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces launched two missiles and 267 drones overnight, with air defense units intercepting 233 of the drones.

Additional casualties were reported across the country. In Boryspil, east of Kyiv, a drone strike killed a 14-year-old girl. In the southern Odesa region, regional governor Oleh Kiper reported one person killed and three injured after attacks on Danube transport infrastructure destroyed five grain transport trucks in Izmail. Strikes in Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia left at least 11 people injured.

Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces launched cross-border attacks against Russian territory and Russian-occupied areas. In Russia's Belgorod region, acting governor Alexander Shuvayev reported three fatalities and 14 injuries from Ukrainian drone, rocket, and artillery strikes, which also ignited a distribution warehouse for the online retailer Ozon. In Russian-occupied Sevastopol, occupation officials reported one death and 26 drones shot down.

Infrastructure status and front-line developments

The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that the strike in Myla targeted components and launch systems for long-range drones, as well as parts for Ukrainian Flamingo cruise missiles.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi announced that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remained disconnected from the external power grid for more than a week, operating solely on emergency diesel generators to support essential cooling operations. Along the front line, Russian forces claimed to have taken control of Khrapivshchyna in Sumy Oblast, as well as Novoandriivka and Rubizhne in Donetsk Oblast.