At least 11 people died in this attack, which caused outrage across the country.
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Prosecutors have filed a case against Vasyl Honcharuk, head of the arms industry association, accusing him of negligence that led to deaths during a Russian ballistic missile strike on a shooting range near Kyiv on Friday.
There was nationwide outrage over how this event was organized. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also criticized it, stating that the event “definitely should not have taken place there.”
On Monday, a Kyiv court ordered Honcharuk to be held in pre-trial detention without the possibility of bail until the end of the trial, reported an AFP journalist attending the court session.
A few hours after the strike, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed it had hit the location where, according to them, a demonstration of “Ukrainian and foreign-made” drones was taking place.
Ukrainian prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko said investigators are checking whether “circumstances could have increased the scale of the tragedy.”
He said the arms association, without official permission, invited more than 300 people, including military personnel, government officials, and business figures, and set up only minimal cover.
On Friday, a few hours after the attack, AFP journalists saw collapsed houses and bodies of the dead in body bags, while first responders and investigators were digging through the rubble.
The event also faced criticism for being promoted on social media. Kravchenko said investigators “are examining whether these actions could have allowed the enemy to prepare a targeted strike.”
On Monday, the death toll rose from 10 to 11 after a Ukrainian diplomat representing the Maltese order died from injuries sustained.
Ukraine’s defense industry regularly holds events to showcase its drones and other weaponry to investors and allies.
Similar incidents, where Russia carried out attacks on gatherings of the Ukrainian military or defense sector whose details were widely publicized in advance, have also caused significant outrage.
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