After a heavy Russian attack near Kiev that killed 37 people, the Ukrainian government is already talking about "negligence" on the Ukrainian side. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a warehouse where ammunition was stored was hit in the village of Mila, in the Bucha district.
An investigation has begun
Zelensky pointed out that according to the current rules for storing ammunition, they should not be stored near houses and residential areas. He said that this is a "terrible situation" and “terrible negligence on the part of those who stored ammunition in close proximity to people“. He said a nursing home and a number of residential buildings were hit. A criminal investigation has been launched.
Timur Tkachenko, head of the military administration of the Kyiv region, which includes Bucha, said at least 50 residential buildings were hit. The attack also caused a large fire that spread to houses and a restaurant. Ukrainian media quoted Tkachenko as saying that 34 of the dead were residents of the nursing home.
"Criminal negligence"
Like Zelensky, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky also expressed an opinion. He pointed out that in the attack on the Kiev suburb of Vyshneve in early July, when an ammunition depot was also hit, 22 people were killed, and large explosions and fires spread to nearby houses. "Obviously, this terrible tragedy has not served as a lesson. Making the same mistakes in the fifth year of Russian aggression against Ukraine is criminal negligence," Koretsky said.
The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, said that a warehouse with components and launchers for long-range drones was hit in Mila. In addition, the ports of Mykolaiv and Izmail were attacked, as well as a logistics center and warehouses in the Kiev region that stored parts for Ukrainian "Flamingo" cruise missiles.
Author: Rebecca Barth ARD