Ten people were killed and about 100 others were injured to varying degrees in Russia’s missile strike on the Kyiv region, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said. He noted that the figures were still being updated.
Criminal proceedings have been opened over the strike under an article covering violations of the laws and customs of war. At the same time, prosecutors launched a separate investigation into the possible negligent performance of official duties in organising an event that may have led to deaths and other serious consequences.
According to Kravchenko, investigators will determine who decided to hold the event, approved its location, timing and format, and what security measures had been put in place under martial law.
Acting head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration Ruslan Oliinyk said that the Bucha district was the hardest hit.
“According to preliminary information, the strike targeted the grounds of a private training facility where an event was taking place. This information is currently being thoroughly verified,” he said.
The strike damaged 27 private houses and 44 vehicles. Emergency responders and operational services remain at the scene.
According to the Ukrainian Council of Gunsmiths, the strike hit a location where representatives of Ukraine’s defence industry were present. The council stressed that it had not organised the event but was in contact with colleagues and providing the necessary assistance.
“Information about the participants’ exact location was not publicly disclosed. The circumstances of the strike are being established by the competent authorities. We ask everyone to refrain from sharing photos and videos from the scene, geolocation data, information about the victims, the company and other details that could harm people, the work of the Defence Forces or the investigation,” the organisation said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a rescue operation was continuing at the scene. He expressed his condolences to the families of those killed and said all the circumstances surrounding the attack were still being established.
Zelenskyy also said that Russian aerial bomb strikes on Sloviansk had killed five people and injured another nine. According to him, residential buildings, a consular building and vehicles were damaged.
