Death toll rises to 37 after Russian strike triggers ammunition depot detonations near Kyiv

Kyiv Oblast Governor Tymur Tkachenko said the death toll had risen to 37 as emergency crews continued working at the site in the village of Myla in Bucha district.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said investigators established that a Russian Geran-4 drone struck the site, triggering secondary detonations of ammunition. At least 42 people were injured, including four children.

Zelenskyy said the initial strike hit a storage site containing shells, mines, other ammunition and drones belonging to Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

“The first strike hit an ammunition storage site that definitely should not have been there - a Defense Forces warehouse. Shells, mines, other ammunition and drones detonated. The scale was significant,” Zelenskyy said.

He described the situation as “terrible negligence” and said those responsible must be held accountable.

The SBU has opened a criminal investigation under two articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code: aggression and negligent performance of military duty.

Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said investigators were working to establish “why an ammunition depot was located among ordinary residential buildings.” Around 40 victims and witnesses have already been questioned, while physical evidence has been sent for examination.

The SBU said around 130 homes and other civilian facilities were damaged.

Following the tragedy, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry ordered commanders across the Defense and Security Forces and managers in the domestic defense industry to conduct a full audit of weapons and ammunition storage sites. The ministry stressed that such facilities must not be located near residential buildings.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia bore primary responsibility for the tragedy because the detonations were triggered by the Russian strike. At the same time, it stressed that locating ammunition depots near civilian areas was unacceptable and said an existing order by the commander-in-chief banning such storage remained in force.

The incident follows a similar case in nearby Vyshneve in July, when a Russian ballistic missile struck an ammunition warehouse belonging to a Ukrainian defense enterprise and triggered hours of secondary explosions.

Prosecutors later said large quantities of ammunition at the Vyshneve site had been stored in unsuitable premises without the required permits.

Zelenskyy said another such incident after Vyshneve was “absolutely unacceptable” and called for the details of the investigation into the Myla tragedy to be made public quickly.