At least 37 people have lost their lives and another 40 have been injured after a Russian airstrike against an ammunition depot located in the municipality of Bucha, in the Kiev region. The bombing is part of a new series of Russian attacks against warehouses in the area, marked by Moscow as arms depots, which have forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
The offensive has occurred in the locality of Myla, in the Bucha district, when a Russian drone struck an arms warehouse. The subsequent explosion was of such magnitude that it destroyed several apartment blocks and a residence for the elderly and people with disabilities, as explained by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Among the fatalities is also the head of the Dimitrovska community, Taras Didych, Zelensky specified.
The head of the regional administration of Kiev, Timur Tkachenko, has warned that the updated casualty count "may not be final" due to the enormous destruction caused by the attack, which has resulted in a large-scale fire still not fully controlled.
So far, the number of evacuees amounts to 381 people, including 59 minors. As for the injured, seven have needed to be transferred immediately to the hospital.
Zelensky, who has declared an official day of mourning for this coming Sunday, has demanded accountability from local authorities for what happened, recalling that "there are regulations in force that prohibit storing ammunition near houses or other residential areas." In his view, those who allowed this situation must answer for their decisions.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that "attack drones and high-precision aerial weapons" hit "transport and logistics" facilities used covertly to store military material.
Russia has detailed that the attacks took place in Chaiki, Kalinovka, and Milaya, where the warehouses contained everything from long-range cruise missile components Flamingo to propellers intended for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles FP-1/FP-2.