A Russian strike on a weapons depot that was dangerously close to civilian buildings left at least 37 people dead near Ukraine’s capital, the Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest attacks in the country this year.
The strike came after days of nonstop Russian drone attacks on the capital, Kyiv, that have strained Ukraine’s limited air defenses and exhausted the population. The Ukrainian authorities called the storage of weapons in civilian areas negligent and vowed to investigate.
The Russian strike, which took place late Friday, caused huge secondary explosions from stocks of Ukrainian ammunition, including shells, mines and drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a video address.
The depot, which stored weapons for Ukraine’s armed forces in Myla, west of Kyiv, “definitely shouldn’t have been there,” Mr. Zelensky said. He also warned that the death toll could increase.
The detonations engulfed an entire suburban area in plumes of smoke, shutting down a nearby highway. Officials said that a home for older adults and disabled people was among the severely damaged buildings nearby. The capital region will observe a day of mourning on Sunday, officials said.
“The situation is horrific, and it’s a terrible display of negligence on the part of those who stored explosive materials so close to people,” Mr. Zelensky said, adding that a criminal investigation was already underway into the management of the warehouse.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Saturday that its forces had struck an ammunition depot in Myla, which it said was storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones.
Another Ukrainian ammunition facility in Vyshneve, an area outside Kyiv, was destroyed just last month, killing several people and prompting a separate investigation into the decision to store dangerous arms in civilian areas.
“Making the same mistakes for the fifth year of the full-scale invasion is criminal negligence,” Serhii Koretskyi, Ukraine’s prime minister, said on Saturday after the latest strike. “And all those responsible, without exception, must face severe punishment so that such situations do not happen again.”
The destruction of the weapons depot came as Russia has launched a blitz of attacks that have targeted warehouses and shopping centers.
Air raid sirens have wailed nonstop in Kyiv in recent days as Ukrainian forces have struggled to counter an onslaught of Russian drones, many of which are powered by jet engines that allow them to fly at nearly 400 miles an hour.
Ukraine also faces a dire shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles, the only weapon the country has that can shoot down ballistic missiles.
Russia has seized on that gap in Ukraine’s arsenal this summer. Civilians are bracing for the possibility that waves of Russian drones are intended to wear down air defense units before an even larger ballistic attack in the coming days.
In the past, Russia often launched daytime waves of reconnaissance drones ahead of combined drone and missile attacks overnight. But the droves of armed drones that now swarm the capital daily suggest that Russia is using a new tactic to spread fear and anxiety.
Most shops and restaurants remain open in Kyiv, but the constant attacks have caused major traffic jams and delays on the metro system. They could also significantly complicate plans for students to return to school on Tuesday.
Paul Sonne contributed reporting from Berlin.
