Kyiv warehouse explosion kills 37 in third night of aerial assault

37 people were killed when a Russian drone strike hit an ammunition depot near Kyiv on Friday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine this year. This was the second such attack on an arms depot close to the Ukrainian capital within a span of less than two months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the incident as a grave situation resulting from poor management of explosives stored close to residential areas.

Zelenskyy's comments came in a video address where he added that another attack in a similar vein is completely unacceptable.

President Zelenskyy specifically mentioned a previous attack in Vyshneve, where an ammunition warehouse explosion two months prior had triggered secondary blasts in a town on Kyiv's western outskirts, resulting in the loss of ten lives. The escalation of long-range strikes by Russia has increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure, leading to a surge in civilian casualties.

The Bucha district strike triggered a massive fire and explosions at the arms depot, forcing over 370 people to evacuate the region. Dozens were injured in the attack, with Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community, among the fatalities. He was credited for rushing to the scene to assist with rescue efforts.

Zelenskyy announced that criminal proceedings were initiated against officials for negligence. Regulations were in place prohibiting ammunition storage near residential zones, which Zelenskyy emphasized. The drone assault on Friday came two days after continuous air raids on Kyiv and its surroundings. Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine cannot be left to devise defense strategies against such attacks and highlighted that Russia carried out strikes in nine other regions overnight.

He underscored the prolonged conflict, noting that it has been over four and a half years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.