At least 37 killed in Russian strike on ammunition depot near Kyiv, many victims were care home residents
A Russian strike on the village of Myla near Kyiv set off a chain of explosions at an ammunition warehouse, killing at least 37 people, including 20 residents of a nearby care home. Ukraine's president has promised accountability for negligence.
On the evening of August 28, the Russian military struck the village of Myla in the Bucha district of Kyiv region, setting fire to a warehouse storing ammunition. The blaze triggered a series of detonations that sent flames into nearby private homes. The explosions were powerful enough that authorities closed the Zhytomyr highway entirely between the 15th and 32nd kilometer markers. Nearly 400 people were evacuated from the affected area.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, said Saturday morning that at least 27 people had been killed, with another 42 injured, including four children. Among the dead was Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community, who died while helping rescue people from the fire. By 2:00 p.m. Saturday, Tkachenko updated the death toll to 37.
About 50 residential buildings were damaged. The heaviest damage struck a nearby care home for elderly and disabled residents, where 20 people died, according to local social media reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the care home had been damaged and said those responsible for allowing the situation must bear consequences. He noted that investigators from the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine have opened a criminal case over official negligence, since regulations prohibit storing ammunition near residential buildings.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi described the incident as the result of "criminal negligence," pointing to a similar tragedy in July, when a Russian strike on a Ukroboronprom warehouse in Vyshneve damaged 300 residential buildings and killed nine people, saying that tragedy "did not serve as a lesson." The Kyiv region has declared August 30 a day of mourning for the victims.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its drones struck an ammunition warehouse belonging to Ukrainian defense company Fire Point in Myla, where components for FP-1/FP-2 drones were stored. It also claimed that overnight into August 29, Russian forces struck logistics centers in the villages of Chaiky and Kalynivka near Kyiv, which stored components for Ukraine's "Flamingo" cruise missiles, among other items.
