The death toll from Russia’s strike on an ammunition warehouse in Myla, west of Kyiv, has risen to 38, with four people missing and at least 52 injured. The blast ignited fires across nearby homes, exposing alleged negligence in storing explosives near civilians. As Russia intensifies air raids and vows massive strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, Kyiv faces mounting pressure on its air defences.
The death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv, the deadliest attack of the year, rose to 38, with four people still missing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.
The Friday night strike on the warehouse, which Ukrainian officials said was storing ammunition, triggered massive explosions and fires that swept through dozens of nearby homes and buildings in the village of Myla.
The attack came as Russia has sharply intensified its air campaign in recent weeks in the 4.5 year-old war, with air raid sirens repeatedly wailing and explosions and the rumble of air defences echoing across Kyiv throughout the day.
Emergency workers continued to extinguish fires and identify and neutralise explosives at the site, Zelenskyy said on social media. At least 52 people were injured, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the local regional military administration.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy called the Myla attack “a terrible situation” and a consequence of “terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people”. He said an investigation was underway into why the ammunition had been stored there.
The escalation marked a notable shift in tactics, putting further pressure on Ukraine's already strained air defences while keeping civilians on alert for hours. Daytime attacks on the capital had previously been relatively rare.
Russia's Defence Ministry said Sunday that it was preparing “massive strikes” on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. It described the planned attacks as retaliation for Kyiv's drone campaign against Russian online retailers Wildberries and Ozon, as well as the country's oil and gas sector.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said large-scale strikes against Ukraine's energy sector would be “an appropriate response” to what he called Ukraine's “path of escalation” and targeting of Russia's civilian economy.
Peskov told Russian state television that Moscow had been carrying out “fairly systematic” strikes on what he described as Kyiv's military and war-related infrastructure.
In the latest attack Sunday, a logistics facility belonging to Ozon was struck and set ablaze by a Ukrainian drone in Russia's Belgorod border region. The company said it feared there had been multiple injuries.
Ukraine said it was targeting Wildberries — Russia's largest online retailer, similar to Amazon — because it sells dual-use goods that have aided the military, although the company denies the allegation.
Ukrainian drones have also struck oil refineries and other energy infrastructure, contributing to an unprecedented fuel crisis in one of the world's largest energy-producing countries.
During previous winters of the war, Russia systematically targeted Ukraine's power grid, depriving thousands of people of heat and electricity. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that the coming winter could be the most challenging since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Ukraine's new Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said the ministry has options for closing the $27 billion funding gap he inherited from his predecessor, including seeking greater contributions from allies.
Khmara made the remarks at his first briefing with reporters since taking office on Saturday. His appointment followed weeks of protests after the dismissal of Mykhailo Fedorov, which triggered a military reset in Kyiv and culminated in a video in which Fedorov called for a new presidential election. Khmara's comments were released for publication on Sunday.
Khmara, a former special forces officer, takes over as Kyiv's war effort faces mounting financial pressures. He said a priority would be avoiding battlefield shortages while ensuring soldiers are paid and other essential needs are met.
The ministry is considering bringing forward part of a 90 billion euro ($104 billion) European loan planned for next year. It has also identified partners for separate talks on financing specific defence needs, he said.
“Ukraine will show its partners a clear vision and a clear plan,” he vowed, adding that he planned to retain much of the existing ministry team.
Also on Sunday, Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had downed or neutralised almost 500 Ukrainian drones launched overnight.
Russian and Ukrainian reports on Telegram said the drone strikes had set fire to a major oil refinery in Kirishi, southeast of St Petersburg. The facility is one of Russia's largest refineries and the only one in the country's northwest.
Leningrad regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported only that a fire had broken out “in Kirishi's industrial zone” following the drone strikes. He said 62 drones had been shot down over the surrounding region.
Russian strikes on Kyiv on Saturday killed a 2-year-old girl and injured 12 others, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
In the village of Bilbasovka in eastern Ukraine, a 13-year-old and an adult were killed after Russian troops dropped bombs on private homes Sunday, according to local official Vadim Lyakh.
A Ukrainian strike Sunday on a mine in Russian-held Luhansk in eastern Ukraine killed an employee, a Kremlin-installed local official said. Regional head Leonid Pasechnik said five others were injured across the province.
In Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes injured at least four people in the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, local authorities said.