Organizer of Kyiv weapons expo detained after Russian missile strike kills 11

A Kyiv court remanded Vasyl Goncharuk, the head of the Armada weapons industry association, pending trial on charges of negligence after a Russian ballistic missile struck a weapons exhibition outside the capital on Friday, killing at least 11 attendees. Prosecutors said the event, which drew more than 300 military, government and business participants, was held without official authorization and provided only minimal shelter. Goncharuk appeared in court limping and reported light injuries from the attack.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed it targeted the site during a demonstration of Ukrainian and foreign-made drones. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, criticised the decision to hold the exhibition at that location.

In related developments, the U.S. Defence Innovation Unit’s chief operating officer Travis Metz told Reuters that Ukraine is expected to produce 6 million to 7 million small first-person-view attack drones this year, roughly 500,000 per month, far outpacing the Pentagon’s $1.1 billion programme, which has ordered just under 200,000 drones to date. Metz said the Pentagon is requiring future U.S. contracts to use wholly domestic components, excluding prohibited Chinese parts.

All 100 U.S. senators have been invited to meet Zelenskyy in Washington, where he will attend the funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham and discuss a pending sanctions bill. Zelenskyy is also scheduled to meet President Donald Trump.

Elsewhere, Ukraine reported strikes on Russian oil facilities in the Rostov, Yaroslavl and Udmurtia regions, while Russian forces hit three Ukrainian ports, including fuel storage at Odesa. Ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region left seven civilians dead and more than 20 injured.