Russian forces struck a private training ground in Kyiv region with ballistic missiles, killing 10 people and wounding about 100, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office. The strike hit territory in Bucha district, said acting head of the Kyiv regional military administration Ruslan Oliinyk.
Representatives of Ukraine's defense industry were at the training ground. The Ukrainian Council of Armaments said it did not organize the event and that information about its exact location was not publicly disseminated. However, social media users claimed that the unmanned systems exhibition 'Armada' was announced online with the location specified and registration was open.
Valeriy Borovyk, founder of Ukrainian defense company First Contact, said the strike was 'aimed at a specific event' and was targeted. Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Flesh (Beskrestnov) denied his own participation but said on social media that his team 'survived.'
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said the agency opened criminal proceedings on charges of violating the laws and customs of war, as well as negligence. Investigators are determining who decided to hold the event and approved the location, time, and format, and what security measures were taken 'under martial law.'
Representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Lykhovyi said that 'the civilian facility hit by the enemy is not under the management of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.' Adviser to the former defense minister Serhiy Sternenko criticized holding mass military events within range of ballistic missiles, noting that Russia conducts satellite and human intelligence and monitors social media.
Russia's Defense Ministry has not commented on the strike. The same day, Russian forces carried out an airstrike on Sloviansk in Donetsk region, killing at least five people and wounding about ten, damaging private homes and the honorary consulate of Latvia, local authorities said.
Sources disagree: Ukrainian military and prosecutors call the training ground 'private' and a 'civilian object' not belonging to the Armed Forces. Ukrainian bloggers and media claim the event was openly advertised on social media with the location — which, they say, could have helped Russian forces target the strike. The Prosecutor General's Office has launched a negligence probe into the organizers' actions.