Russian strike on Bucha kills 37 as Kyiv suburb warehouse blast sparks fire

A Russian strike on Myla in Bucha district killed 37 people and damaged homes near Kyiv. The blast has triggered evacuations and a negligence probe over storing ammunition near residential areas.

In Short

• At least 50 residential buildings were damaged and a major fire spread
• Authorities opened negligence proceedings over ammunition allegedly stored close to homes
• Over 370 residents were evacuated, including elderly and disabled care-home occupants

At least 37 people were killed in a Russian attack on the Bucha district near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday, officials said. The strike damaged at least 50 residential buildings and triggered a large fire that spread to homes and a restaurant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a warehouse in the village of Myla was hit, "followed by a detonation". He said criminal proceedings had been opened on charges of official negligence, while Russian authorities said their forces had targeted a warehouse storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the local regional military administration, said the attack caused extensive damage in the area. Zelenskyy said a care home for elderly people and people with disabilities was among the damaged buildings, along with residential homes. "More than 370 people have already been evacuated, and the evacuation is ongoing," he said.

Without giving further details on the site, Zelenskyy said, "There are regulations in place – ammunition cannot be stored near homes or other residential areas." Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi also did not provide information on the warehouse, but referred to an attack on the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve earlier this month that struck an ammunition depot, killed 22 people and caused large detonations and fires in nearby homes. "Unfortunately, we can already see that the terrible tragedy in Vyshneve did not become a lesson," Koretskyi said. "In the fifth year of a full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes is criminal negligence. And all those guilty, without exception, must be severely punished so that such situations do not happen again."

In a statement, Russia's Ministry of Defence said it had hit a warehouse in Myla storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones. It also said it had attacked the ports of Mykolaiv and Izmail, as well as a logistics centre and warehouse facilities storing parts for Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles in the Kyiv region. Almost constant air raids in Kyiv have now entered a third day, severely disrupting civilian life and hurting the economy in the capital more than four-and-a-half years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Russian attacks across Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Saturday killed two people and injured 27, according to local official Oleksandr Prokudin. He said homes and apartment blocks were damaged, and one child was among the injured. Earlier this week, Prokudin said Russia had stepped up attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, around 70 per cent of which is under Russian control, and urged tens of thousands of residents to move to safer areas because of the risk of prolonged power and heating outages this winter. Overall, Saturday's attacks left heavy casualties and damage in the Kyiv area and Kherson, while Ukrainian leaders focused on evacuation, accountability and the continued impact of the war on civilians.

With PTI Inputs

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