Two Ukrainian soldiers died after an interceptor drone's munition detonated as they tried to repel a Russian drone attack in Khmelnytskyi Oblast on 27 May, the State Bureau of Investigation said, Ukrinform reported. The incident occurred in a village in the Dunaivtsi community, Kamianets-Podilskyi raion.
The third soldier was taken to a hospital and is not in life-threatening condition, said Kateryna Herasimuk, spokeswoman for the Bureau's Khmelnytskyi territorial directorate. Investigators are working to establish why the munition detonated suddenly while the soldiers were carrying out their combat task.
Investigators seize control panels and open criminal case
The Bureau's investigators have seized remote control units and communication equipment for forensic examination. Prosecutors opened criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 414 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, according to Texty.
It is a violation of the rules for handling weapons and explosive items, resulting in the deaths of several people. The Bureau said the examinations would determine the actual cause.
Air war that now reaches deep into rear
Khmelnytskyi Oblast lies in western Ukraine, hundreds of kilometers from the front, but Russia's expanding drone campaign has repeatedly reached it. For several years in a row, Russia has launched hypersonic Kinzhal missiles on the region. Its primary target was Starokostiantyniv.
To counter Russia's nightly Shahed-type raids, Ukraine has fielded mobile interceptor-drone teams positioned along the routes the drones take across the country, including over rear regions far from the fighting.
Russia has steadily scaled those raids, launching hundreds of drones in single attacks and pushing them to higher altitudes.
Ukraine downed a record number of Russian UAVs with interceptor drones in March and doubled its interceptor supply in the first four months of 2026 over all of 2025. The technology is cheap and fast to field, though still maturing. The cause of the detonation in Khmelnytskyi has not been determined.
