Death Toll From Russian Strike Near Kyiv Rises to 38 as Moscow Threatens ‘Massive’ Energy Attacks
Four people remain missing after explosions at an ammunition facility west of the Ukrainian capital, while Russia warns of retaliatory strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv rose to 38, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, making it the deadliest Russian attack in Ukraine so far this year.
Four people remain missing following Friday night’s strike on the facility in the village of Myla, where Ukrainian officials said an ammunition storage site was hit, triggering massive explosions and fires that spread to dozens of nearby homes and buildings.
Emergency crews continued working at the site Sunday to extinguish fires and locate victims, while also identifying and neutralizing unexploded ordnance, Zelenskyy said.
Twenty people were wounded in the attack, including two children, according to the Ukrainian president.
The strike came as both sides continue to intensify attacks against military, energy and industrial infrastructure, with Russia warning Sunday that it was preparing a new wave of major strikes against Ukraine’s energy system.
Moscow threatens major energy strikes
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it was preparing “massive strikes” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, describing them as retaliation for what Moscow called Kyiv’s continuing attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure and the country’s fuel and energy sector.
Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, fuel facilities and other energy infrastructure, arguing that the sector provides revenue and resources that sustain Moscow’s war effort.
Ukrainian forces have also carried out attacks on Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, which Ukrainian officials have accused of selling dual-use goods that have supported the Kremlin’s military campaign.
The intensifying Ukrainian drone campaign has damaged oil refineries and other energy facilities across Russia and contributed to a severe fuel shortage in some parts of the country.
Ukraine braces for another difficult winter
The latest Russian warning has raised fresh concerns in Kyiv over the coming winter.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military operations in February 2022, Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power infrastructure during the colder months, damaging electricity generation and distribution networks and leaving civilians without reliable heating and electricity.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that the approaching winter could be the country’s most difficult since the start of the full-scale war.
The anticipated escalation also comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to strike deeper behind each other’s front lines, increasingly targeting infrastructure considered critical to the opposing side’s ability to sustain the war.
New drone attack hits Kyiv
Separately, at least three people were injured in a Russian drone attack on Kyiv late Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said.
A fire broke out between the second and fifth floors of a 12-story residential building in the capital’s Obolonskyi district. Emergency crews also responded to fires in three other districts of Kyiv.
Non-residential and administrative buildings were damaged at two locations, according to Ukraine’s state emergency services.
The latest attacks underscore the continuing escalation of Russia and Ukraine’s long-range strikes, with civilian areas and critical infrastructure increasingly caught in the crossfire as both sides seek to inflict economic and strategic costs on the other.