Kirill Budanov*, head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, described the Russian strike on a military exhibition in the Kiev region as a serious and far from unprecedented failure, according to Strana.ua.

Budanov* said organizers and officials who approve such events must bear personal responsibility for the safety of those attending. In his view, an exhibition should not take place unless security can be guaranteed at the highest level. He added that the incident was not the first lesson of its kind.

Foreign delegations were also present at the venue when the strike occurred, Budanov* said, though he did not identify the countries they represented.

The Washington Post reported that the attack drew a sharp reaction from Zelensky. In his evening address, he called the decision to hold the event a major mistake that led to serious consequences.

The newspaper also noted that Russian forces had significantly increased the intensity of strikes across Ukraine, including Kiev. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian air defenses are struggling to intercept ballistic missiles as stocks of interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot systems run low.

Media outlets reported a series of explosions in the Kiev region during the afternoon of July 24. Later reports said the strike had hit an exhibition organized by Armada, an association of unmanned systems manufacturers. Published announcements indicated that participants planned to display drone systems, detection equipment, radar technology and electronic warfare systems.

Sergey Beskrestnov, an adviser to a former Ukrainian defense minister, said he had attended the exhibition with his team and survived the attack. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office reported that ten people were killed and around 100 others were injured.

* Kirill Budanov is included by Rosfinmonitoring on Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists.