Russian ballistic missile strikes Kyiv arms exhibition, killing at least 10, injuring 100

Editor's note: This is a developing story.

At least ten people have been killed, and more than 100 others injured after a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv hit an arms exhibition taking place in the capital on July 24, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram.

"These were brutal attacks on civilians, and the Russians must be held accountable for them. Russia has long abandoned any regard for international norms and for human values," President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X in response to the strike.

Presidential advisor Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov told the Kyiv Independent that the event was taking place at a training ground near Kyiv along the Zhytomyr Highway, adding that there were "injured and killed." Yet Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, later said the strike occurred at a private sports complex.

Kravchenko said that his office had opened two criminal investigations, including into a possible violation of the laws and customs of war, as well as possible negligence in organizing and holding the event.

"No details about the event or its location" were publicly available before the attack, with the invitation shared only through closed industry channels and appearing online only afterward, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry told the Kyiv Independent. While the council was not the organizer, the spokesperson said that "neither the invitation nor the registration link disclosed the venue."

The council said in a post on social media that "an enemy missile strike occurred in the Kyiv region at a location where representatives of the Ukrainian defense industry were present."

"We express our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," it added.

Kremlin-controlled news agency TASS cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that Ukrainian drone developers, representatives of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Command, and members of the country's special services were at the facility in Kyiv that was struck.

One of the victims was later revealed to be a communications official for Ukraine's State Security Administration (UDO).

Valentyna Savitska, head of international cooperation and strategic communications at UDO, was killed in the attack against Kyiv Oblast on July 24, her husband Ihor Solovey announced on social media.

"My family is in terrible grief: inhumans killed my beloved girl and caring wife, loving mother and daughter, Valentyna Savitska," Solovey wrote. He described Savitska as "incredibly bright, kind, sensitive" as well as "a real colonel."

On Ukrainian social media, questions were already being raised about the event's security. Images of flyers advertising the event circulated online, along with invitations containing registration links that attendees could use to obtain the location.

"I don't even know how to comment on this… What else needs to happen for there to finally be some awareness of the possible consequences of such actions?" one popular Telegram monitoring channel posted.

Air-raid sirens rang out around 11:20 a.m., with Ukraine's Air Force reporting Russian missiles heading to the Ukrainian capital.

A few minutes later, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported explosions in the city.

The attack comes as Russia scales up mass missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

On July 19, 25 ballistic missiles were launched in a single night on Kyiv, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky described as one of the largest mass uses of the weapon during the full-scale war.

On top of its regular menu of Iskander ballistic missiles and various cruise missiles — including the hypersonic Zircon model — Russia has reportedly also begun using missiles from its S-400 air defense system, repurposed for attacking ground targets.