Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that the death toll from a Russian strike on an ammunition depot near the capital Kyiv rose to 38, making it the deadliest attack in the country since the start of the year.
In a Telegram post on August 31, Zelenskyy said rescue workers were still extinguishing fires and dealing with explosions caused by the August 30 attack on the village of Myla. Bomb disposal units were also deployed to secure the area. He added that 20 people were wounded and four remained missing.
This was the second attack on an ammunition depot near Kyiv in two months. Local officials voiced frustration over weapons being stored too close to residential areas. Ukraine's prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into possible criminal negligence related to the incident.
The same day, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that its forces were preparing to conduct large-scale strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. The move was seen as a response to Ukraine's drone campaign against the Wildberries e-commerce system (sometimes called 'Russia's Amazon') and Russia's oil and gas sector, which Kyiv says directly funds Moscow's military operations.
In previous winters, Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine's power grid, leaving thousands without heating in freezing temperatures. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly warned that this winter could be the most severe test since Russia launched its full-scale military operation in February 2022.
For its part, Ukraine's military said it conducted overnight attacks on an oil refinery in the Leningrad region and a military base in the Krasnodar region of Russia. One person was killed in a separate Ukrainian strike on a mine in the Luhansk region, which is controlled by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, according to Moscow-appointed Governor Leonid Pasechnik.
US-led diplomatic efforts to end the conflict — the deadliest war in Europe since World War II — have been stalled for months. Russia demands broad territorial and political concessions from Ukraine, while Kyiv views these terms as a surrender and rejects them outright.
