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Russian strike on a Ukrainian warehouse kills 37 in the war's deadliest attack this year

The Friday night attack on the warehouse in Myla, a village in the Bucha district, came on the second of three days of nearly round-the-clock Russian strikes that have severely disrupted life in and around the Ukrainian capital.

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Russian drone strike on Kyiv warehouse storing weapons kills at least 37

Ukrainian prosecutors open investigation into why munitions were stored so close to residential buildings

At least 37 people have been killed after a Russian drone struck a warehouse near Kyiv’s western suburbs that was storing “explosive objects”.

The attack damaged at least 50 residential buildings, including a care home for elderly and disabled people, and sparked a huge fire and explosions in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region. The regional governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said a further 42 people, including four children, had been injured in the strike.

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© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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Russian drone strike on Kyiv warehouse storing weapons kills at least 37

Ukrainian prosecutors open investigation into why munitions were stored so close to residential buildings

At least 37 people have been killed after a Russian drone struck a warehouse near Kyiv’s western suburbs that was storing “explosive objects”.

The attack damaged at least 50 residential buildings, including a care home for elderly and disabled people, and sparked a huge fire and explosions in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region. The regional governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said a further 42 people, including four children, had been injured in the strike.

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© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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37 Killed After Russian Strike on Weapons Depot as Ukraine Blames Negligence

The depot, which was in a civilian area near Kyiv, “definitely shouldn’t have been there,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Oleh Biliuk and his 2-year-old son, Yarema, watched smoke rise from a burning ammunition warehouse near their home in Myla, Kyiv Oblast, on Saturday.
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Love under anti-drone nets: Ukrainian couple wed in Kramatorsk combat zone

‘At a time when Russia is trying to spread gloom and darkness … it is important to create something beautiful,’ says combat medic Tetiana as she weds army captain Oleksandr

In the bright early afternoon sun of Kramatorsk’s central and now ironically named Peace Square, Tetiana, in her bridal dress, and Oleksandr, in his military uniform, are holding up their phones at the ready. It is a public holiday, 35 years since Ukraine’s declaration of independence, and a popular day for a wedding, though the open-air location is not obviously ideal.

Three days earlier, Kramatorsk, perhaps Vladimir Putin’s principal target, was formally designated part of the combat zone, the front inching towards the city as Russia closes in on the parts of the Donetsk region it does not control. It is quiet at 2pm though; the ceremony brief. There are no guests other than the Guardian team.

Tetiana and Oleksandr pose for a wedding photo on Mount Karachun, near Sloviansk, the scene of fierce fighting in 2014.

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© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian

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Why Putin Is Fighting On, Even as His Problems Multiply

There is little sign that public exhaustion, economic headwinds or increased Ukrainian strikes are changing the Russian leader’s view that he will eventually achieve victory.

© Pool photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that despite Moscow’s challenges, he believes Kyiv’s situation is worse.
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Russia ‘losing 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit’

Moscow recruits an estimated 1,000 people a day but western officials say it cannot keep up with casualty level

Russia is losing about 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit, western officials have said.

While Russia is still acquiring new battlefield recruits at speed, with an estimated rate of 1,000 a day, in the last two months even this has not been sufficient to replace those killed or injured.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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C.I.A. Chief Delivered Bleak Assessment of Russia’s War in Secretive Moscow Visit

John Ratcliffe’s meeting this week with a Russian intelligence chief was aimed at pushing the Kremlin to pursue a peace deal with Ukraine.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, delivered an urgent message to Aleksandr V. Bortnikov, the head of Russia’s F.S.B. intelligence service this week in a secret visit to Moscow.
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