In the early hours of Saturday, a Russian drone strike ignited a massive fire and a series of explosions at a warehouse in the Bucha district of Kyiv Oblast, prompting the evacuation of more than 200 residents. The attack, which targeted the village of Myla, also injured at least six people, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration.
“The attack caused a large-scale fire. The fire also spread to private residential buildings. Fires in 5 houses and a catering establishment have already been extinguished,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram, adding that the blaze was “accompanied by explosions.” Emergency crews remained on site through the morning to contain the damage.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has since opened a pre-trial investigation into possible “negligence” regarding the storage of explosive materials at the warehouse. In a statement, the office said it would examine “the legality of the placement and storage of explosive objects and materials on the territory of the enterprise, the availability of the necessary permits and approvals, as well as the actions of officials who made the relevant decisions.”
Video footage circulating on social media, reportedly filmed near the scene, shows a towering fireball rising into the night sky, underscoring the intensity of the blast. The incident is the latest in a series of drone strikes targeting Ukrainian warehouses, part of a broader campaign by Moscow to disrupt logistics and energy infrastructure.
Strikes across southern and central Ukraine
Elsewhere, a Russian drone strike on Kherson killed one man and wounded a 44-year-old who suffered shrapnel injuries to the chest. In Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, two more people were injured in a separate attack, according to local authorities.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia had launched one Onyx anti-ship missile, one Iskander ballistic missile, and 267 drones since Friday evening. By Saturday morning, air defences had shot down or “neutralised” 233 of the drones, the air force added.
The escalation comes as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify long-range strikes, with a particular focus on logistics hubs and energy facilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his forces to “step up” their deep strikes on Russian territory, setting an ambitious target of 1,000 drone launches per day.
The human toll of these attacks continues to mount, with recent drone strikes on Kyiv and other cities claiming lives and injuring civilians. The repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure has also reignited debates in Brussels about how to support Ukraine, including using frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction and defence.
As the war enters another winter, the resilience of Ukrainian communities is being tested once more. The overnight evacuation in Bucha—a town that became synonymous with war crimes in the early days of the invasion—serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing threat. Emergency services are continuing their work, and local authorities are assessing the full extent of the damage.
