Russian drone strike kills 37 near Kyiv warehouse

Ukrainian authorities said Saturday that 37 people were killed and more than 40 injured in a Russian drone strike on a warehouse in the Bucha district near Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the death of local community leader Taras Didych among the victims. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, initially reported 27 fatalities including four children among the 42 injured, but later updated the death toll while noting that some 50 residential buildings were damaged to varying degrees in the attack on the village of Myla, situated northwest of the capital.

Zelenskyy said on social media platform X that the warehouse in Myla was struck by a drone, damaging surrounding infrastructure and sparking an extensive evacuation effort involving hundreds of residents. "More than 370 people have already been evacuated, and the evacuation is ongoing," he said, adding that those who allowed the situation to occur must be held accountable for their decisions. The president confirmed that Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka rural community, was among those killed in the attack.

Criminal probe opened into ammunition storage

Zelenskyy said investigators had opened criminal proceedings on charges of official negligence, highlighting violations of regulations regarding the storage of military materials near populated areas following the deadly explosion. "There are regulations in place – ammunition cannot be stored near homes or other residential areas," he stated, emphasizing that such storage practices endanger civilian lives and violate established safety protocols.

Ukraine's Air Force reported that its air defenses shot down 233 out of 267 drones launched by Russia overnight, adding that an Onyx cruise missile and an Iskander-M ballistic missile were also launched though their whereabouts were not detailed. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces struck logistics centers in Kyiv and the surrounding region, specifically identifying the target in Myla as an ammunition depot belonging to defense technology company Fire Point where components and boosters for FP-1/FP-2 long-range unmanned aerial vehicles were allegedly stored.

Southern port cities targeted

Russia also claimed to have struck facilities in the port of Izmail in the southern Odesa region and in the port of Mykolaiv, continuing a pattern of attacks on logistics and energy infrastructure that has intensified in recent months. Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said one person was killed and three others injured in the strikes on the region, noting that five trucks with grain were completely destroyed by fire and three more damaged. "As a result of the attack, five trucks with grain were completely destroyed by fire, three more trucks were damaged," Kiper said, adding that firefighters had extinguished the blaze.

Acting Mykolaiv Governor Heorhii Reshetilov reported damage to energy facilities that left over 300,000 subscribers without electricity in the wake of the overnight bombardment. Both Moscow and Kyiv deny deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, maintaining that their strikes are directed solely at military targets or facilities linked to military activities, though independent verification of the claims remains difficult due to the ongoing war and restricted access to the affected zones.