Zelenskyy condemns housing of weapons in civilian area after strike kills 10 near Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said officials who allowed weapons warehouses to operate in a residential area near Kyiv have been identified and will be held accountable after a Russian strike killed 10 people. Meanwhile, separate Russian attacks on Saturday killed eight more across Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that officials who permitted weapons warehouses to operate in a residential area outside Kyiv have been identified and will face accountability. A Russian strike earlier this week on the town of Vyshneve, on Kyiv’s western outskirts, hit an arms warehouse, triggering secondary explosions that killed 10 people and damaged hundreds of homes. An investigation by the Ukrainian Security Service established which officials at the state weapons producer Ukroboronprom authorized the warehouse’s use. Zelenskyy called it a direct violation of the law and a decision of the supreme commander-in-chief’s staff, stressing that each responsible official must be held accountable.
On Saturday, Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine killed eight people, including a child, and wounded dozens. Two glide bombs hit a crowded area in Sumy, killing five and injuring 30. In a border district of Sumy region, a man died after stepping on an explosive device. Glide bombs also injured 10 in Zaporizhzhia. A missile strike on Odesa killed two and wounded one. The injury toll in Kyiv rose to 12, including two children.
Zelenskyy said Russia launched over 120 drones and 12 missiles overnight, half of them ballistic. Civilian infrastructure was hit before the air raid alert sounded. He posted videos of emergency teams working in smoke and rubble. Apartment buildings, offices, and a theological school were damaged in Kyiv. Air defenses shot down most targets but not ballistic ones. Zelenskyy reiterated his plea for allies to provide more military aid.
Saturday’s strike on Kyiv was the second in less than a week to hit before an air alert. Defense ministry adviser Sergiy Sternenko said the attack used S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, which are hard to detect by radar, and called it terrorism. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, said it struck military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and seaport infrastructure in Odesa.
Zelenskyy also said diplomacy should focus on getting allies to fulfill arms-supply agreements faster. He is preparing changes in Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts to ensure agreements, including licensing for Patriot production, are implemented more quickly and completely.
Ukraine’s drone forces chief Robert Brovdi said his units struck 21 fuel tanker vessels in the Sea of Azov overnight, plus seven other cargo and support ships, bringing the total vessels hit this week to 76. Russian authorities said a drone attack on four vessels in Taganrog Bay killed one person. Rostov region governor Yuri Slyusar expressed condolences and said there was no risk of a methanol spill.
Russia’s defense ministry said its troops took control of the settlement of Bachivsk in Ukraine’s Sumy region, though the report could not be independently verified. Meanwhile, Russia’s Novosibirsk region urged residents to work remotely and limit car travel due to a deepening fuel crisis triggered by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries. Earlier this week, Ukraine struck an oil refinery in Omsk, taking out one of Russia’s largest refineries.
