At least 37 people have died after a Russian drone struck a depot near Kyiv‘s western suburbs overnight, sparking a huge fire and explosions, authorities said Saturday.
The depot appeared to have been storing “explosive objects”, Ukrainian prosecutors said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested ammunition was to blame.
“Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable for their decisions … ammunition cannot be stored near homes or other residential areas,” he wrote on X.
Russia and Ukraine have for several months been intensifying their long-range strikes, increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure such as logistics warehouses and oil and port facilities.
These attacks are causing a growing number of civilian casualties.
The blast damaged surrounding residential areas, as well as a care home for the elderly and disabled people, Zelensky said.
The depot was located in the town of Myla, on Kyiv’s western outskirts.
Officials did not say whether it was a military or civilian enterprise.
‘Criminal negligence’
Ukrainian prosecutors said they had opened an investigation.
“On 28 August at around 8:10pm (1710 GMT), an unmanned aerial vehicle … fell on or struck the grounds of an enterprise in the town of Myla,” the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general said.
“A large-scale fire broke out on the enterprise’s grounds, and detonation began,” it added.
The prosecutor’s office said that its investigation would focus on “the legality of the … storage of explosive objects and materials on the enterprise’s grounds”, as well as whether the owner, whom it did not name, had the “necessary permits and approvals”.
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Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky expressed regret that a “lesson” had not been learned following a previous deadly strike on a munitions depot near Kyiv in July.
That investigation revealed serious failings on the part of a state-owned company, which did not comply with regulations about the proximity of residential buildings.
“In the fifth year of the full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes over and over is criminal negligence,” he said on Telegram.
“Everyone responsible, without exception, must face severe punishment so that such situations never happen again.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
This story originally appeared on France24
