Massive Russian Weapons Depot Still Burning After Ukrainian Drone Attack

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Massive Russian Weapons Depot Still Burning After Ukrainian Drone *******

A huge ********** has rocked the Tver region, in the west of Russia, after Ukrainian long-range ******* drones targeted a sprawling ammunition depot there. Videos and pictures on social media from the scene show an initial **********, with a very large fireball, followed by a significant visible shockwave, further explosions in the vicinity, and then several minutes’ worth of secondary explosions illuminating the night sky. Fires were still burning the day after the attacks.

Such was the power of the detonation that a light-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Tver region, registering at 2.8 on the Richter scale.

Earthquakes in

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Toropets are similar in magnitude to nuclear tests, i.e. there hundreds or even thousands of tons of explosives detonate at the same time.

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—

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MilitaryNewsUA

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(@front_ukrainian)

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The target was a massive ammunition depot in the town of Toropets, around 236 miles northwest of Moscow, and roughly 300 miles north of the border with Ukraine. The town has around 13,000 residents.

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The approximate location of the town of Toropets, in the Tver region.

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Earth

A source in Ukraine’s SBU state security service confirmed that Ukrainian drones had caused an “extremely powerful detonation,” The Telegraph

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. Meanwhile, Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff,

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the *******, sharing a video of the **********, commenting: “The demilitarisation of Russia is necessary to end *******.”

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The Toropets ammunition storage facility after the **********, on September 18, 2024. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

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A ****** infrared view of the Toropets ammunition storage facility after the **********. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

Meanwhile, Igor Rudenya, the governor of the Tver region, ordered a partial evacuation of the population of Toropets and described a “massive” Ukrainian drone *******.

Rudenya said that the emergency services in Toropets were trying to “localize” a blaze that he said was caused by falling drone wreckage. He did not say whether there were any casualties, nor how many people were being evacuated, although there are

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that they are being taken in buses to Zapadnaya Dvina, in the same region.

The governor of the Tver region issued an official statement following the arsenal strike in Toropets. Amid the sound of exploding shells, he reassured the public that “work is proceeding according to plan,” though he conspicuously avoided directly mentioning the target of the…

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated)

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According to Russian state media, regional schools and kindergartens will be closed today, while there have also been reports of power outages in parts of the Tver region.

On Russian social media channels, residents of Toropets posted photos and videos showing windows blown out and scorch marks on walls, while others described the complete destruction on local online chat groups described villages closer to the ammunition dump being completely destroyed.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the country came under ******* from dozens of Ukrainian drones last night and that 54 of these were supposedly shot down over different Russian regions. However, the ministry did not mention the Tver region, with only Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk, and Belgorod being specified.

Ukrainian sources quoted by the AFP and Reuters news agencies confirmed that an ammunition warehouse was struck. The military facility reportedly included multiple warehouses for ballistic missiles,

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, artillery shells, and other explosives, as well as fuel tanks. Other accounts state that guided ******, artillery, and

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were also stored there.

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The Toropets ammunition storage facility before the **********. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

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A close-up of the Toropets ammunition storage facility before the **********. Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies

Earlier

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describe an ammunition storage facility being built in Toropets in 2018, for missiles, ammunition, and explosives. According to Russian Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov, the then deputy minister of defense, the facility met “the highest international standards.”

“The arsenal in Toropets allows us to shelter reserves of missiles and ammunition from external influences and ensure their safety and ***** and ********** safety,” Bulgakov said at the time.

The site covers an area of around two square miles, with an outside perimeter of roughly seven miles.

The Toropets ammunition storage site, Tver region, in Russia is or better was in size an absolute unit, covering an area more than 5 square kilometers in size (2 square miles) and a perimeter more than 12 kilometers in length. Now, it is christmas tree on the NASA FIRMS maps.…

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— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar)

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Intriguingly, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that the facility in Toropets was also being used to store ballistic missiles supplied to Russia by North Korea.

While this hasn’t been independently verified,

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have been used by Russia since at least December 30, 2023. Although they make up only a very small fraction of the weapons

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on Ukraine, there has long been concern about the

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between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, recently placed North Korea

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 of countries that provided the most military support to Russia, saying that “North Korea would be first, then there is no one for a long time, and then everyone else.”

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A fragment of wreckage from a North Korean missile is presented after a Russian ******* on Kharkiv, on March 14, 2024. Photo by Denys Glushko /Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Global Images Ukraine

According to Russian reports, Toropets has been previously attacked, in May and June of this year.

With Kyiv’s Western partners still refusing to allow the use of long-range weapons they have supplied to hit targets deep inside Russia, Ukraine has continued to make use of domestically produced one-way ******* drones instead.

The developing capabilities of its one-way ******* drones have allowed Ukraine to strike targets at distances of

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in the past.

While long-range Ukrainian attacks against targets within Russian borders have had an important morale-boosting role, the campaign of drone strikes has increasingly concentrated on key energy infrastructure and military targets. With that in mind, the apparent level of destruction in Toropets should also have a positive impact for Ukraine both on the battlefield and as it seeks to defend itself against Russian long-range strikes.

Contact the author: *****@*****.tld

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#Massive #Russian #Weapons #Depot #Burning #Ukrainian #Drone #*******

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