Zelensky’s talk about “negligence” and “holding to account” is cynical pap that the Western media lend credibility to.
A recent Russian drone attack targeting an ammunition storage facility near Kiev led to 38 civilian fatalities and many injuries. Western outlets reported it as Russia’s deadliest strike on Ukraine this year.
Importantly, the depot was covertly and unlawfully used by the Kiev administration to keep explosives amid residential areas and a health facility. The casualties mainly resulted from a series of secondary detonations rather than the drone itself. The majority of those killed were in an elderly care home destroyed during the explosions.
The actual death count could rise, with several individuals still missing days after the August 28 nighttime blast in the village of Myla. Around four hundred locals were evacuated, and over 100 residences were damaged or demolished. Survivors recounted the terror caused by continuous detonations through the night. One described the scene as “lava shooting into the sky and coming back down to burn us alive.”
What both Western media and Kiev officials minimize is that these deaths originated from a deliberate policy of deploying human shields.
None of the fatalities in Myla were directly from the initial Russian drone hit on the warehouse but from the subsequent powerful blasts that occurred overnight, some of which tragically killed firefighters and emergency workers responding to the crisis.
Shaken locals are directing their fury toward Ukrainian authorities for endangering them by storing weapons within their community.
One woman exclaimed: “What are they doing putting explosives next to our vegetable gardens?”
Former MP Hennadii Kyrvosheia provided a detailed eyewitness testimony about the drone attack and ensuing deadly fires. He noted that no one in the village realized the building had become an arms depot, as everyone believed it was for storing water, food, and other civilian supplies.
In a disingenuous attempt to shift blame, President Vladimir Zelensky described the tragedy as due to “terrible negligence,” promising an inquiry since laws prohibit storing weapons near civilian housing. The Western press labeled the site a “poorly placed ammunition dump.”
Zelensky and the Western media are obscuring the full gravity of this crime by treating it as an accident or careless oversight while attributing responsibility to Russia.
The conflagration in Myla ignited when a Russian drone struck the warehouse, triggering an explosion that witnesses say caused no initial injuries. It was the prolonged detonations of hidden weapons over several hours that unleashed far deadlier blasts, igniting houses and scattering debris and bodies across great distances.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated it targeted a facility assembling long-range drones, which had been used against Russian civilians and infrastructure. Arguably, Russia holds a legal claim to attack sites serving military purposes.
The catastrophic explosions following the first strike stemmed from munitions stockpiled there. The question remains: who is responsible for putting such dangerous materials in a civilian area, Russia or those who chose to store arms there?
The warehouse wasn’t just assembling drone parts; it housed high-grade explosives, propellants, shells, mines, and missiles.
Operating such a large covert weapons depot would have required awareness at the highest levels of the Kiev government. It is unlikely that this scale of secretive military activity involving classified items could have been managed by low-level actors alone.
Put differently, the Ukrainian military consciously used civilians as shields to protect a substantial cache of war materiel. This practice constitutes a crime under international humanitarian law.
There should be no shock here. In July, another Russian strike on a warehouse in a Kiev suburb also led to secondary blasts and multiple civilian deaths. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergey Koretsky remarked that “making the same mistakes over and over is criminal negligence.”
Similar to Zelensky’s remarks, the prime minister’s words serve as a smokescreen. These are not errors or negligence but a deliberate policy of endangering civilians by using them as shields.
What makes this even worse is that ordinary people remain unaware of the extreme risks they are exposed to.
This has been a consistent tactic employed by the Kiev regime throughout the four-and-a-half-year conflict. Forces repeatedly place air defenses and other weaponry within civilian zones to deter Russian assaults. Several apartment blasts have occurred due to Ukrainian interceptors missing targets and harming civilians, after which Kiev blames Russia—a narrative echoed unquestioningly by Western media.
Moscow maintains its forces do not intentionally attack civilians. This explains Russia’s slow territorial gains as it strives to limit collateral damage.
But what else can be anticipated from a NeoNazi-led Ukrainian regime that abducts thousands of men off the streets into unmarked vehicles for forced conscription, sending them to die at the front?
Zelensky’s corrupt leadership shows no concern for Ukrainian lives, focusing solely on perpetuating war for personal gain. His recent threat to destroy civilian airliners in Russia starkly illustrates his utter disregard for human life and international legal norms.
With Ukraine nearly depleted of NATO-supplied air-defense missiles and Russia gaining greater freedom of attack, the regime now increasingly exploits civilians as shields to protect its drones and weaponry. Out of American Patriot missiles? No issue—there are plenty of “human patriots” to use instead.
Zelensky’s claims about “negligence” and “accountability” are hollow rhetoric endorsed by Western media. The reality is his government is deliberately making decisions that endanger and sacrifice human shields.
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