At least 37 killed and hundreds evacuated after Russian drone strike on Kyiv weapons depot
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said an investigation had been launched into the "terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people"
At least 37 people have been killed and hundreds were evacuated after a Russian strike on an ammunition depot in Kyiv.
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The drone attack sparked a detonation, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, which sparked widespread fires and damaged homes and a care-centre for the elderly and disabled.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said an investigation had been launched into the "terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people".
The site of Friday's blast was a military facility that held artillery shells, mines and drones, among other ammunition, he added.
The attack sparked widespread fires, officials said. Among those killed was the head of a neighbouring village who rushed to help.
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The deadliest Russian strike in the Kyiv area this year came as Moscow's air attacks on the Ukrainian capital and surrounding region dragged into a third straight day.
It followed a similar incident in the Kyiv-area town of Vyshneve last month, when 10 people were killed and hundreds of houses damaged after a strike triggered secondary explosions.
"Another such crime – after what happened in Vyshneve – is absolutely unacceptable," Zelenskiy said. "I expect the details to be presented to the public promptly."
He added that criminal cases had already been opened on charges of official negligence. Ukrainian officials rarely disclose damage to military targets from Russian attacks.
In a statement on Saturday, Ukraine's Defence Ministry said all those responsible for weapons storage should complete a full audit of their locations.
Russia has escalated its air war on Ukraine with increasing numbers of elusive ballistic missiles and new high-speed drones, which Kyiv lacks the air defences to shoot down.
On Saturday, sirens blared throughout the morning and afternoon for a third straight day as Ukraine's air force warned of new waves of drones approaching the capital.
Kyiv region governor Tymur Tkachenko said a 14-year-old girl was killed in a morning drone strike on the Boryspil district. In Kyiv, a 2-year-old girl was killed by a downed drone, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Saturday.
Strikes in and around the city on Thursday and Friday had damaged residential buildings and storage facilities belonging to major retailers, part of what some Ukrainian officials said was a campaign aimed at"paralysing" the city of several million.