Russian drone strike on warehouse kills 37 near Kyiv; dozens of homes damaged

Kyiv: At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone struck a warehouse in a village west of Kyiv, triggering explosions and fires that damaged dozens of nearby homes and buildings in the deadliest attack in Ukraine so far this year.

The strike hit a warehouse in Myla, in the Bucha district, at around 8 pm on Friday, according to local officials. The attack was part of a wave of near-continuous Russian drone strikes on Kyiv and surrounding areas that began on Thursday.

Ukrainian officials said the warehouse may have been illegally storing ammunition. The drone strike was followed by a major explosion and fire, which spread to nearby residential areas.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the local regional military administration, said at least 50 residential buildings were damaged and more than 370 people were evacuated.

Local media, citing Tkachenko, reported that 34 of those killed were residents of a care home for elderly and disabled people.

A local resident, Oleksandr Vodolaz, told The Associated Press that the drone hit the warehouse at about 8 pm, after which a series of detonations began. Residents, he said, had not known that weapons were being stored at the site.

The death toll has surpassed the 31 people killed in a Russian strike on Kyiv on July 2, which had previously been the deadliest attack of the year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the incident as a “terrible situation” and blamed what appeared to be “terrible negligence” by those who stored explosives close to residential areas.

Zelenskyy said the warehouse strike was followed by a detonation but did not specify what was stored there. He said Ukrainian law prohibits the storage of ammunition near homes and confirmed that criminal proceedings had been opened.

“Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable for their decisions,” Zelenskyy said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi drew comparisons with a July attack in the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve, where an ammunition depot was struck, killing 22 people and causing large explosions and fires that spread to nearby homes.

“Unfortunately, we can already see that the terrible tragedy in Vyshneve did not become a lesson,” Koretskyi said, calling the repetition of such incidents “criminal negligence”.

Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed that its forces had struck a warehouse in Myla, but said the facility was storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones. It also claimed to have attacked ports in Mykolaiv and Izmail, as well as a logistics centre and warehouses containing components for Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles in the Kyiv region.

Russian drone attacks on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine have intensified since Thursday. Ukrainian officials say Moscow has been building up its missile stocks and launching large-scale attacks every few days in an effort to overwhelm the country's air defences.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian strikes damaged houses and apartment buildings in the southern Kherson region on Saturday, killing two people and injuring 27 others, including a child, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Prokudin said Russia had also stepped up attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, around 70% of which is under Russian control. He urged tens of thousands of residents to relocate to safer areas amid concerns over prolonged power and heating disruptions during the winter.

Ukraine has also faced a growing threat from Russian jet-powered drones. Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, said Russia was significantly increasing their use and that their numbers were expected to rise further.

“Means of attack always outpace means of defence. We will certainly need to adapt. It will take time,” Palisa said.

He added that Ukraine's interceptor drones had not yet demonstrated the expected effectiveness against jet-powered drones, although work was under way to improve the country's defences.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has stepped up long-range drone strikes against Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months. Kyiv says the attacks, carried out using domestically produced drones, are intended to undermine Moscow's war financing and bring the impact of the conflict closer to Russian territory.

Zelenskyy said on Friday that Ukraine aimed to increase its long-range drone strikes to 1,000 launches a day.

“Right now, we average over 300 of our long-range sanctions,” he said, referring to Ukraine's long-range attacks. “There must be more. We have a very specific goal, and we will achieve it.”

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had destroyed 313 Ukrainian drones overnight.

In Russia's Rostov region, 11 people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks, according to regional governor Yuri Slyusar. He said nine people, including four children, were taken to hospital.