A Russian attack on a weapons depot that was dangerously close to civilian buildings left at least 37 people dead near Ukraine’s capital, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday, in one of the deadliest attacks in the country this year. The attack came after days of continuous Russian drone attacks on the capital kyiv, which have tested Ukraine’s limited air defenses and exhausted the population. Ukrainian authorities called the storage of weapons in civilian areas negligent and promised to investigate. The Russian attack, which took place on Friday night, triggered huge secondary explosions from Ukrainian ammunition stockpiles, including shells, mines and drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a video address. The depot, which stored weapons for Ukraine’s armed forces in Myla, west of kyiv, “definitely should not have been there,” Zelensky said. He also warned that the death toll could rise. The explosions enveloped an entire suburban area in columns of smoke, blocking a nearby highway. Authorities said nearby buildings severely damaged included a home for seniors and people with disabilities. The capital region will observe a day of mourning on Sunday, officials said. “The situation is horrible and is a terrible display of negligence on the part of those who stored explosive materials so close to people,” Zelensky said, adding that a criminal investigation into the management of the warehouse was already underway. drones.Another Ukrainian ammunition facility in Vyshneve, an area on the outskirts of kyiv, was destroyed just last month, killing several people and prompting a separate investigation into the decision to store dangerous weapons in civilian areas. “Making the same mistakes during the fifth year of the large-scale invasion is criminal negligence,” Serhii Koretskyi, Ukraine’s prime minister, said Saturday after the latest attack. “And all those responsible, without exception, must face severe punishments so that such situations do not occur again.” The destruction of the weapons depot came as Russia launched a series of attacks targeting warehouses and shopping malls. Air raid sirens have sounded non-stop in kyiv in recent days as Ukrainian forces struggled to counter an attack by Russian drones, many of which are powered by jet engines that allow them to fly at nearly 400 miles per hour. Ukraine also faces a serious shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles, the only weapon the country has that can shoot down ballistic missiles. Russia has taken advantage of that gap in Ukraine’s arsenal this summer. Civilians are preparing for the possibility that waves of Russian drones will aim to wear down air defense units ahead of an even larger ballistic attack in the coming days. In the past, Russia often launched daytime waves of reconnaissance drones before combined drone and missile strikes at night. But the hordes of armed drones now swarming the capital daily suggest Russia is using a new tactic to sow fear and anxiety. Most shops and restaurants remain open in kyiv, but the constant attacks have caused major traffic jams and delays in the metro system. They could also significantly complicate plans for students to return to school on Tuesday. Paul Sonne contributed reporting from Berlin.
