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More than 200 people were evacuated in Ukraine’s Bucha district overnight after a Russian drone strike caused a major fire and explosions at a warehouse, according to local authorities.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, said at least six people were injured following the attack on the village of Myla and that there were a number of fatalities.
“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 in a post on Telegram.
He added that the fire was “accompanied by explosions.”
Emergency and rescue teams are continuing to work at the scene.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said it has since launched a pre-trial investigation into possible “negligence” surrounding storage conditions at the warehouse.
“In particular, 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 will be checked,” it said in a statement.
Video footage circulating on social media, seemingly taken near the scene, shows a huge explosion and fireball rising into the night sky.
Russian strikes kill one in Kherson
On Saturday, a man was also killed following a Russian drone strike on Kherson in southern Ukraine. A 44-year-old also suffered a blast injury and shrapnel wounds to their chest in the attack on the city.
Another two people were injured in an attack on Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, per local authorities.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched one Onyx anti-ship missile, one Iskander ballistic missile, and 267 drones at Ukraine since 6 pm on Friday.
Local air defences had shot down or “neutralised” 233 of the drones as of Saturday morning, it added.
Moscow and Kyiv have been ramping up long-range strikes in recent months, particularly targeting logistics and energy facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on his forces to further “step up” their deep strikes on Russia, setting a target of 1,000 drone launches a day.
“Right now, we average over 300 of our long-range sanctions – there must be more,” he said in a video address on Friday evening.