Ukraine villagers blame weapons depots after Russia strike kills 38
DIRECT ANSWER: A Russian jet-powered drone strike on an ammunition warehouse in Myla, a village 15 miles outside central Kyiv, killed at least 38 people—the deadliest Russia news attack on Ukraine in 2026. Survivors are turning anger on officials who stored munitions near homes, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed negligence and opened a criminal inquiry.
It is a day and a half since the initial strike hit at 8pm on Thursday night, according to The Guardian. Witnesses reported 30 to 50 secondary explosions that continued for about six hours. Four people remained missing on Sunday, and 20 were injured, including two children.
Key Takeaways
- Death toll reached 38 after a Russian drone hit an ammunition dump in Myla, Bucha district, west of Kyiv.
- Thirty victims were from a care home close to the warehouse; hundreds were evacuated as fires spread.
- Residents say they did not know munitions were stored nearby and blame those who placed the depot in a village.
- Zelenskyy called storing explosives next to civilians a crime; Ukraine's intelligence service opened a criminal inquiry.
- The strike was part of a days-long Russian air campaign on Kyiv involving jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles.
What happened in Myla after the Russian strike?
Volodymyr, 61, a security guard, showed journalists through his family's badly damaged home—roof blown off, windows shattered—toward the impact site 300 metres away. His greenhouse was shattered and vegetable patches blackened, yet he still offered surviving grapes from his garden.
Liudmyla Polianychko, 48, told Reuters she sheltered in a bathroom with her daughter as blasts showered them with glass and a wall collapsed. "But we're alive, and thank god for that," she said. Charred artillery shells and belts of ammunition littered her lawn.
Serhii and his mother Vira, 65, hid for hours in a small bunker beside their house. Serhii said he thought humanitarian aid—not ammunition—was stored at the facility. A Grad rocket shell, mines and cluster munitions were found on their property after the blasts subsided.
Why are Ukrainians angry about weapons storage near villages?
Locals say the depot should never have been placed among homes and vegetable gardens. Vira told The Guardian: "Those who set up the depot here are to blame. There are people here, this is a village."
Liudmyla recalled a similar incident in early July at Vyshneve, nine miles south-east of Kyiv, where nine people died and 280 homes were damaged. Two people were detained on suspicion of allowing weapons to be stored inappropriately after that episode—yet Myla happened again.
When asked who was at fault, Liudmyla offered a double answer: "Putin! Who else? And those who set up the depot here." Zelenskyy on Saturday described the storage of artillery shells, mines, drones and other ammunition near civilian homes as a "crime" rooted in "terrible negligence."
How does this strike fit into wider Russia news from Kyiv?
Friday's attack was the deadliest Russian strike on Ukraine this year, NBC News reported. It came amid an extended air campaign: jet-powered drones have swarmed Kyiv and nearby towns for consecutive days, with near round-the-clock air raid sirens.
Zelenskyy said Russia launched nearly 2,000 strike drones, more than 1,600 bombs and 31 missiles at Ukraine in one week alone. Moscow's Defense Ministry said it hit a warehouse storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov vowed an "appropriate response" to Ukrainian strikes on Russian infrastructure.
For communities where homes become front-line collateral, the destruction in Myla mirrors how conflict reshapes neighborhoods far beyond the battlefield—topics we also cover in our Luxury Real Estate & Dream Homes hub as readers track property and place amid global upheaval.
What happens next in the Myla investigation?
Ukraine's intelligence service is investigating why ammunition was kept so close to a care home and residential streets. Emergency workers continued extinguishing fires and neutralizing unexploded devices; contamination in the area remains significant.
Rescue operations were periodically halted when new drone threats appeared overhead. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is seeking "just responses to every Russian strike and crime," while criminal cases tied to warehouse placement are already under way after earlier Kyiv-area depot strikes.