At least 10 people were killed and nearly 100 injured after a Russian ballistic missile struck a defence industry event in Ukraine’s Kyiv region on Friday, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to criticise the decision to hold such a gathering during wartime.Ukraine’s Emergency Services said rescue operations at the site, located north of the capital, had been completed. Images released by the agency showed emergency workers searching through piles of rubble near several residential houses.Addressing the nation, Zelenskyy blamed Russia for the attack but also questioned the decision to organise a defence-related exhibition while the war continues.“Of course, the cause of this attack is Russian missiles, nothing but Russian terror,” he said, according to news agency Reuters.“However, we have said a thousand times that under these wartime conditions, with such an enemy, it is absolutely unacceptable to hold any weapons exhibitions with large crowds of people, especially near residential buildings.”The event, organised by a drone manufacturers’ association, was being held a short distance from the outskirts of Kyiv. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s General Staff said the venue did not fall under the military’s jurisdiction, but stressed that any such event should have been conducted with “maximum security measures”.Kyiv regional acting governor Ruslan Oliynyk announced that Saturday would be observed as a day of mourning following the strike.The Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry confirmed that representatives of the country’s defence sector were present when the missile hit, but said it had not organised the event.Valerii Borovyk, founder of Ukrainian drone company First Contact, told local media that the missile struck a training ground where the exhibition was taking place.Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said a criminal investigation had been launched to examine whether officials failed in their duties while organising and conducting the event.Russia also carried out attacks in several other parts of Ukraine on Friday. In the eastern city of Sloviansk, a Russian aerial bomb killed five people and injured nine, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin. He later said another evening strike on the city injured 16 more people and damaged residential buildings.In the northern Sumy region, a Russian drone attack killed two people, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said.Meanwhile, in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian strike set a shopping centre on fire and injured several people.Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of targeting civilians since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, although both sides deny deliberately attacking civilian populations.
