Residents of a suburb near Kiev have slammed Ukrainian authorities over the placement of a military ammunition depot close to civilian homes after a Russian strike triggered hours of secondary explosions and scattered ordnance across the surrounding area.
The storage facility in Milaya, in the Bucha district, was struck during a Russian attack last week. Russia’s Defence Ministry said the site contained components for Ukrainian long-range attack drones used against targets inside Russia.
According to residents interviewed by UK legacy media outlet The Guardian, explosions continued for several hours following the initial strike, with stored munitions thrown into areas containing homes only hundreds of metres from the facility.
“Those who set up the depot here are to blame. There are people here, this is a village. You can’t keep something like that here,” 65-year-old resident Vera told the newspaper.
Vera and her son Sergey reportedly sheltered for hours in a bunker beside their house as repeated explosions shook the area. Sergey said he had believed the nearby facility was being used to store humanitarian supplies.
The Kiev military administration said on Sunday that at least 38 people were killed and more than 200 private homes and 14 apartment buildings were damaged. The Guardian reported that 30 of those killed were residents of a care home situated near the depot.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said authorities had opened an investigation into what he described as the “terrible negligence” that resulted in ammunition being stored close to civilians.
“Another such crime – after what happened in Vishnevoe – is absolutely unacceptable,” Zelensky wrote on X.
The incident follows a Russian strike on an ammunition depot in the Kiev suburb of Vishnevoe on July 6, which also reportedly caused extensive secondary explosions, civilian casualties and damage to hundreds of buildings. Ukrainian officials subsequently pledged to prevent military munitions from being stored near residential areas.
International humanitarian law requires parties to armed conflicts, where feasible, to avoid placing military objectives in or near densely populated areas. Article 58 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions requires parties to take precautions to protect civilians from dangers arising from military operations.
