A Ukrainian court remanded the organiser of a weapons exhibition in custody following a Russian ballistic missile strike on a shooting range outside Kyiv that killed at least 11 people.
Vasyl Goncharuk Held in Custody After Deadly Strike Near Kyiv
A Ukrainian court ordered Vasyl Goncharuk, head of the Armada weapons industry association, remanded in custody following a Russian ballistic missile strike on a shooting range outside Kyiv. Prosecutors brought charges of negligence leading to loss of life against Goncharuk after the Russian ballistic missile strike. Goncharuk appeared in the Kyiv court limping and stated that he sustained light injuries during the attack. According to prosecutors, the weapons association invited more than 300 individuals—including military personnel, state representatives, and business figures—without official authorisation, while providing only a small shelter for attendees. The event had also been promoted on social media. Agence France-Presse said its reporters saw homes in ruins and victims in body bags after the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the decision to hold the gathering, stating that it certainly should not have been taking place there
. Russia’s defence ministry confirmed it targeted the site during a demonstration of Ukrainian and foreign-made
drones. Following the attack, prominent figures Serhiy Beskrestnov, also known as Flash, and Lyuba Shypovych confirmed via social media that they were unharmed. Beskrestnov stated he stayed away from the event because of security concerns. Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat told Ukrainian TV the attack involved three ballistic missiles, only one of which was intercepted. President Zelensky said the incident was being investigated, while Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said efforts were under way to establish who decided to hold the event and what safety measures were in place.
Widespread Bombardments Across Ukrainian Regions
The strike near Kyiv formed part of a broader wave of Russian aerial bombardments. Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched seven ballistic missiles and 136 drones at Ukraine overnight. In the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, a Russian drone hit a supermarket, killing two people—including a 9-year-old child—and wounding 25, Ukraine’s emergency services said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram, This is deliberate Russian terror that has no military justification.
Additional strikes targeted several other cities. In the eastern city of Kharkiv, one person was killed and 16 others required medical attention after a daytime drone attack, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. Separately, Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said a glide bomb attack killed one person and wounded six in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Meanwhile, in Sloviansk, five people were killed by Russian glide bombs, and the national oil and gas company Naftogaz said two of its employees died in a Russian attack while trying to help residents affected by an earlier strike. Early on Saturday, military officials confirmed the deaths of two men in the northern city of Sumy. In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one blaze had broken out on the seventh and eighth floors of a multi-storey apartment block in a central district after the overnight missile attack.
Cross-Border Strikes and International Developments
A Ukrainian strike on Friday killed six people and wounded 26 in the Russian city of Kirov, more than 1,000km (600 miles) behind the front line. Ukraine also attacked warehouses of Wildberries – Russia’s biggest online retailer. Russia said areas of Ukraine under Moscow’s control had also come under attack, with four people killed in a Ukrainian drone strike in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Horlivka. Russian-installed Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said four civilians had been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike, and later said a Ukrainian drone hit an emergency vehicle, injuring three medics and another resident. On Saturday, Russian-installed authorities accused Ukraine of deliberately attacking civilians after 12 people were killed in a drone attack on a holiday camp.
Amidst these developments, Travis Metz, chief operating officer of the Defense Innovation Unit, told Reuters that Ukraine would produce 6m-7m small first-person-view attack drones this year – roughly 500,000 a month. By comparison, the Pentagon’s $1.1bn programme will have ordered just under 200,000 altogether by February. The Pentagon is insisting military drones must be made with US parts to foster a wholly domestic
supply chain. All 100 members of the US Senate have been invited to a meeting on Tuesday evening with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will be in Washington for the funeral of the late Republican senator Lindsey Graham. A Senate aide said voting might also begin during Zelenskyy’s visit on a bill to impose sanctions on Russia that was championed by Graham, and Zelenskyy is due to meet on Tuesday with Donald Trump.
