At least 37 people were killed after a Russian drone strike ignited a massive detonation at a Ukrainian military ammunition depot in the village of Myla, located in the Bucha district just outside Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed. The Friday night attack triggered a chain reaction of explosions as stored shells, mines, drones, and other munitions detonated one after another, sending fire and debris tearing through the surrounding residential area. Dozens of people were injured, and hundreds were evacuated as the blaze spread to nearby homes and buildings, including a facility that cared for elderly residents and people with disabilities. Regional officials said more than fifty residential buildings sustained damage, and the fire even reached a nearby restaurant before crews could bring it under control.

Zelenskyy did not mince words in describing the disaster, calling it a case of terrible negligence by those responsible for storing explosive materials so close to civilian homes. He noted that Ukrainian law explicitly prohibits keeping ammunition near populated areas, making the location of the depot itself a central issue in the tragedy rather than simply the Russian strike that set it off. Among those killed was the head of a neighboring village, who had rushed to the scene to help before the situation escalated further. Zelenskyy said a full criminal investigation has already been opened, with the Prosecutor General's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the military's Commander-in-Chief all involved in determining accountability.

This marks the second time in recent months that a Russian strike has set off a deadly secondary explosion at a Ukrainian storage site, following a similar incident in the town of Vyshneve last month that killed ten people and damaged hundreds of homes. Zelenskyy directly referenced that earlier disaster, calling the repeat occurrence "absolutely unacceptable" and demanding that details be made public quickly. In response, Ukraine's Defense Ministry has ordered a full nationwide audit of weapons storage locations to identify and correct similar risks before they result in further civilian casualties. The pattern suggests that the danger posed by improperly stored munitions has become a recurring vulnerability that Russian strikes are increasingly able to exploit.

The attack on Myla came amid an intense multi-day barrage of Russian strikes across Ukraine, with Zelenskyy noting that nine other regions were also targeted overnight and that Kyiv in particular has been under nearly nonstop assault. Officials have described this as the deadliest single strike in the war so far this year, underscoring both the scale of the explosion and the severity of the ongoing bombardment campaign. As rescue and recovery operations continue at the site, the investigation into how the depot came to be located near residential homes is expected to raise broader questions about military storage practices across the country. For now, Zelenskyy has vowed that those responsible for the oversight will be held accountable, even as the human toll from the blast continues to be assessed.