Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into why a defence exhibition near Kyiv was held and promoted publicly, after a rare daytime Russian ballistic missile strike on the event killed at least 10 people. Prosecutor-general Ruslan Kravchenko has also opened a war crimes case against Russia over the Friday attack.
Ukraine is now investigating its own officials over a defence expo that turned into a target. Prosecutor-general Ruslan Kravchenko said the rare daytime Russian missile bombardment near Kyiv killed at least 10 people on Friday. A ballistic missile hit a military training ground where the exhibition was taking place, injuring dozens more.
A probe aimed at the organisers
The inquiry targets the decision-making behind the event, not only the attacker. Kravchenko said a criminal case had been opened into how the exhibition was organised, alongside the war crimes case against Russia. He tied the inquiry to wartime accountability: "War does not exempt one from responsibility for managerial decisions."
Kravchenko said the investigation would establish who approved the location, time and format of the event and whether the risks were properly assessed.
A daytime strike on the capital
Russia typically launches its strikes at night to impede Kyiv's defences, so residents caught in the open dashed to underground metro stations and car parks during the working day. The Ukrainian Council of Arms Manufacturers said the strike hit a location where defence-industry representatives had gathered, and it asked attendees not to share photos or videos that could harm people or the investigation.
Such events have been hit before. In August 2023, a Russian strike on a drone-technology event in Chernihiv killed seven people and wounded more than 140, after which Ukraine imposed strict rules on promoting the exhibitions.
Both sides trade long-range strikes
Friday's attack landed as Russia and Ukraine hit each other's logistics hubs. Ukrainian long-range drones struck a Wildberries warehouse near St Petersburg on Friday morning, the fifth attack on the retailer's facilities in a week. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the company's network supplied the Russian military with drone components and navigation equipment.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian units also hit a key military enterprise in Russia's Kirov, about 900km from the border. Another strike reached an oil facility nearly 1,350km inside Russia. Moscow's forces, in turn, hit a distribution centre used by the postal service Nova Poshta in eastern Ukraine.
Source: Financial Times
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
