(KYIV OBLAST, UKRAINE) – At least 37 people have been killed and more than 40 injured after a Russian drone strike hit a warehouse storing weapons near residential areas on the outskirts of Kyiv, triggering a massive secondary explosion that destroyed 130 homes and forced the evacuation of 400 families.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ordered an investigation into why munitions were kept so close to a residential area, describing the incident as “horrific negligence” and an “unacceptable crime”. He promised those responsible would be held to account.
The warehouse, located approximately 200 metres from homes, exploded after being struck by a Russian drone. Shells, mines, other ammunition and drones stored at the facility detonated in a series of blasts that devastated the surrounding area. A care home for elderly and disabled people was among the buildings damaged.
Resident Helena described her house shaking and a wall of fire she feared would engulf her. The Pavlenko family said burning ammunition fell from the sky onto their home of more than 30 years. “The upstairs has totally collapsed,” Lubov Pavlenko said, adding she feared the house would have to be demolished. “I’m still kind of numb. I don’t know. Once I come around a little tomorrow, I’ll probably have an even bigger breakdown.”
When asked who she held responsible, she replied: “Russia, their government, the people, Russians themselves.”
Emergency services evacuated the neighbourhood, with a risk of unexploded munitions scattered across the area. The first strike hit an ammunition storage facility “that definitely shouldn’t have been there”, according to a Ukrainian official. “The detonation of shells, mines, other ammunition, and drones. The scale is significant,” the official said.
It is not the first such incident. Just weeks ago, a similar event killed seven people, and two defence company bosses are being questioned in connection with that case.
Local residents expressed anger at the authorities. “Why weren’t precautions taken here? Why? What were they thinking? The authorities, the Ministry of Defence, why was this allowed at the warehouse in a place where they used to store food?” one resident said.
When asked if residents had any idea they were living so close to an ammunition store, another replied: “There was no information at all. None whatsoever.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces had targeted “an ammunition depot”.
Footage of the aftermath was released by BBC News from the scene on the edge of Kyiv.
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