"Only ashes and bones left": what is known about those killed in Russian strike on ammunition depots in Myla

Thirty-eight people were killed as a result of a Russian drone strike that triggered the detonation of ammunition in the village of Myla in Kyiv Oblast. Among them were Valentyna, a resident of the Dobryi Dim care home for the elderly, and 52-year-old local resident Vitalii Momot.

Source: Valentyna's daughter-in-law and volunteer Kateryna "Arta" Yakymovych; Ukrainian public broadcaster hromadske; Vitalii's daughter Valeriia Momot

Details: Kateryna said the family did not immediately realise that the tragedy had occurred at the place where Valentyna was staying. That morning, they had been planning to go on holiday, having booked apartments in Lviv and Yaremche.

"Yesterday we were on the embankment on the left bank and saw this cloud, but we didn't know and no one told us that hell was happening where our mum was," she wrote. "[...] We spent an hour and a half taking a detour around the Zhytomyr [Kyiv-Chop] road and only then found out that everything had happened in Myla. Then came the phone call and the terrible news – 'the building has burned down', and mum had difficulty moving and couldn't get out on her own. If someone had told us, or if we had at least known where it was happening, we would at least have had a chance to try to save our mum, but we were out for a peaceful walk."

Valentyna's son eventually reached the burned-out two-storey building, which had housed the Dobryi Dim care home for the elderly.

"My husband, a serviceman on leave, had to break through to the place where his mother was and see a lump of ash and a couple of bones. That's all that remained of her, thanks to the scum in uniform who decided that an ammunition depot could be placed next to a residential area," Kateryna wrote.

The State Emergency Service previously said that at least 27 residents of the Dobryi Dim care home had been killed. Diana Butsko, a journalist at hromadske, reported that at least 31 bodies had been found at the care home. The rest of those killed were local residents, including two people who lived in a house opposite the care home.

One of them was the husband of Zhanna, whom hromadske journalists met at the intersection with Prorizna Street in Myla. Their house is among the worst affected: its light-coloured walls have turned black, the windows have been blown out, and the roof is completely gone.

On Friday evening, Zhanna was travelling home, where her husband was waiting for her.

"My husband went down to the basement. A man who happened to be driving past asked if he could take shelter there too, so they stayed together," Zhanna said. "There was also a dog... A shell hit the car, and they suffocated from the smoke. Everything exploded so violently there that you still can't even go near it... I was supposed to arrive at 20:00, but I was late. Otherwise, I probably would have been here too."

Among the local residents killed was also 52-year-old Vitalii Momot. He was at home with his dog and chinchilla.

"Today the Russians killed my dad and the pets and destroyed our home," his daughter Valeriia Momot wrote. "I still can't believe it, but the photos and videos of the wreckage bring the bitter realisation that this is reality. I want my dad, Funia and Adelka to remain in my memory only as they are in these photos. And I want to rebuild our home, because that is what my dad wanted."

Marketing expert Amina Aliieva also spoke about Vitalii's death on Instagram. He was a friend of her family and the father of one of her friends.

"He was an extraordinary person, smart and funny. He took us to theatre school, went on trips with us, and supported my loved ones and me through the hardest moments. I am very grateful that I knew you," she wrote.

The detonation of ammunition in Myla also killed Taras Didych, Head of the Dmytrivka hromada. He was among the first to arrive at the scene of the attack to help people. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

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