Death toll rises to 38 from Russia's deadliest attack on Ukraine this year

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv, the war's deadliest attack so far this year, rose to 38 with four people still missing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media Sunday.

The strike on Friday night on the warehouse — an ammunition storage facility according to Ukrainian officials — sparked massive explosions and fires that swept through dozens of nearby homes and buildings.

Emergency workers continued to extinguish fires and identify and neutralize explosive devices at the site in the village of Myla, Zelenskyy added. He said 20 people were injured, including two children.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy called the Myla attack “a terrible situation” and a consequence of “terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people.” He said a probe was underway into how and why the ammunition came to be kept there.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Sunday it is preparing to launch “massive strikes” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, following a Ukrainian drone campaign against a retailer dubbed “Russia's Amazon” as well as the country's oil and gas sector, which Kyiv says both funds and directly fuels Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian ministry described the planned attacks as a response to Kyiv’s “ongoing attacks on Russia’s civilian infrastructure and fuel and energy sector.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday vowed “an appropriate response” to what he said was Ukraine’s “path of escalation” and targeting of Russia’s civilian economy.

Peskov told Russian state media that Moscow has been launching “fairly systematic” strikes on what he called Kyiv's military and war-related infrastructure.

Ukraine launched deadly strikes in recent months on the facilities of Russia’s biggest online retailer, Wildberries , saying the company sells dual-use goods that have aided the Kremlin’s war effort. Ukrainian drones have also pounded Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure, prompting an unprecedented fuel crisis in a country that is one of the world’s biggest energy producers.

During the war’s previous winters, Russia systematically battered Ukraine’s power grid, depriving thousands of heat and light in freezing temperatures . Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that the coming winter may prove the most challenging since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine’s new Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara said the ministry has options for closing the $27 billion defense funding gap he inherited from his predecessor , including seeking more contributions from partners.

Khmara made the remarks at his first briefing with reporters since taking the post on Saturday. His appointment followed weeks of protests after Mykhailo Fedorov's dismissal that sparked a military reset in Kyiv and culminated in a video in which Fedorov called for elections. Khmara's comments were released for publication on Sunday.

Khmara, a former special forces officer who left military service to become a civilian minister , takes over as Kyiv's war effort faces mounting financial pressures. He said a priority will be avoiding battlefield shortages while ensuring soldiers are paid and other essential needs are met.

The ministry is considering bringing forward part of a 90-billion-euro ($104-billion) European loan planned for next year, and has identified partners for separate talks on financing specific defense needs, he said.

“Ukraine will show its partners a clear vision and a clear plan,” he vowed, adding he planned to preserve much of the existing ministry team.

Also on Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed or neutralized almost 500 Ukrainian drones launched overnight.

Independent news channels on Russian and Ukrainian Telegram claimed the drone strikes set fire to a major oil refinery in Kirishi, southeast of St Petersburg. The facility, Kirishi Petroleum Organic Synthesis, is one of Russia’s largest oil refineries and the only one in the country’s northwest.

There was no immediate confirmation from authorities, but local Gov. Alexander Drozdenko on Sunday reported that a fire broke “in Kirishi’s industrial zone” following the drone strikes. He said a total of 62 drones had been shot down over the surrounding region.

Russian strikes on Kyiv on Saturday killed a 2-year-old girl and injured 12 others, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram on Sunday. In the village of Bilbasovka in eastern Ukraine, a 13-year-old child and an adult died after Russian troops dropped bombs on private houses Sunday, according to local official Vadim Lyakh.

Also on Sunday, a Ukrainian strike on a mine in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine killed a female employee, a Kremlin-installed local official said. According to Leonid Pasechnik, who heads the occupied Luhansk region, five others were injured across the province.

In Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes injured at least four people that same day in the border regions of Kursk and Belgorod, local authorities said.