A Russian drone strike triggered a major fire and explosions at a warehouse on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, killing at least 27 people and forcing hundreds to evacuate, regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said on Saturday.
Writing on the Telegram messaging app, he added that 42 people were also wounded and that more than 380 were being evacuated from the strike area in the Bucha district.
A fire broke out and was “accompanied by explosions”, Tkachenko said.
“More than 200 people have already been evacuated from the scene, including children.”
Russia and Ukraine have for several months been intensifying their long-range strikes, increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure such as logistics warehouses and oil and port facilities.
These attacks are causing a growing number of civilian casualties.
Ukraine: Civilian casualties hit highest level since May 2022
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The prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for “negligence” regarding storage conditions at the premises after the attack, which took place shortly after 8pm (1700 GMT) Friday in the village of Myla in the Bucha district.
The prosecutor’s office specified that its investigation would focus on “the legality of the … storage of explosive objects and materials on the enterprise’s grounds”, as well as whether the company, which was not named, had the “necessary permits and approvals”.
Read more‘Not an isolated incident’: Russian drones stalk Ukraine’s civilians in ‘human safaris’
Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky expressed regret that a “lesson” had not been learned after a previous deadly attack in July in Vyshneve near Kyiv on a munitions depot.
That investigation revealed serious failings on the part of the state-owned company, which did not comply with standards despite the proximity of residential buildings.
“In the fifth year of the full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes over and over is criminal negligence,” he said on Telegram.
“Everyone responsible, without exception, must face severe punishment so that such situations never happen again.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
