Drone Strike Kills 27 Near Kyiv
A Russian drone hit a warehouse in the village of Myla near Kyiv on Friday evening, setting off a fire and explosions. Twenty seven people were killed, 42 injured, and more than 370 evacuated.
The deadliest single strike on the Kyiv region in this latest wave of Russian attacks happened on Friday evening, when a drone hit a warehouse in the village of Myla, west of the Ukrainian capital. For Serbia, an EU candidate country that tracks its own alignment with sanctions on Moscow as part of the accession process, strikes like this one on civilian infrastructure remain a reminder of how far the war still is from ending, despite occasional talk of negotiations.
According to Kyiv Regional Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko, a Russian drone hit the warehouse in Myla, in the Bucha district about 35 kilometers west of Kyiv, at around 8:10 p.m. local time on Friday. A detonation followed the hit, and the fire spread from the warehouse to nearby houses and a restaurant.
“Unfortunately, what we know so far is that 27 people were killed. And that number may not be final,” Tkachenko said Saturday morning, adding that he offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
At least 50 residential buildings were damaged, including a care home for the elderly and people with disabilities. More than 370 people were evacuated from the area, and over 300 emergency personnel took part in the response.
What Was Stored in the Warehouse?
Ukrainian prosecutors determined that explosive items and materials were kept at the site and opened an investigation into illegal storage and negligence. The prosecutor’s office said the inquiry will focus on whether storing those items on the premises of the company, whose name has not been disclosed, was lawful, and whether the company held the necessary permits and approvals. Russia’s defense ministry, for its part, claims it targeted a weapons depot holding drone production equipment, a claim Ukraine has not confirmed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted sharply, promising accountability for the failure:
“Those who allowed this must answer for it.”
He added that there are clear rules on how ammunition should be stored:
“Ammunition must not be stored near homes or other residential areas.”
He thanked everyone helping with additional support packages and sanctions against Russia, saying Ukraine must not be left alone in finding ways to defend against strikes like this one.
A Repeated Mistake From July
The case in Myla is not an isolated one. Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretski noted that a similar incident in July, in the town of Vyshneve near Kyiv, already exposed serious failures in ammunition storage: a state owned company at the time failed to meet safety standards for storing explosive materials, even though residential buildings stood close by.
“In the fifth year of the full scale invasion, repeating the same mistakes over and over is criminally negligent.”
Koretski wrote this on Telegram, adding that everyone responsible, without exception, must be strictly punished so that similar situations do not happen again.
Second Consecutive Day of Strikes
Zelensky said that on the same night, 260 more drones were launched at several regions of Ukraine. It was the second consecutive day of strikes on the Kyiv region, after Russia launched 164 drones at Ukraine the night before. That earlier attack killed one person in the Kyiv region and damaged 14 warehouses, 16 private homes, three apartment buildings, and 16 vehicles.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, pointed to the tactic behind the frequent strikes by small, fast jet powered drones:
“The goal is to exhaust air defense and the population.”
Ukrainian officials have also cited earlier cases of repeated strikes on the same location, the so called double tap tactic, aimed at rescue teams while they put out fires or pull out the injured. The investigation into how explosives came to be stored in Myla is ongoing, and the final death toll, as Tkachenko has said, is not yet closed.
