Ukrainian forces have successfully carried out a drone attack on a Russian weapons depot in Tver. The explosion had the force of an earthquake.
Toropets – Volodymyr Zelensky is attempting to counter the war of aggression in Ukraine with attacks on Russian territory. Just at the beginning of the week, explosions rocked the Russian military airfield Engels-2 in the Saratov region. According to security sources, the Ukrainian armed forces have now managed to deal a serious blow to a Russian weapons depot in a drone attack on the western Russian region of Tver.
It is still unclear what exactly was destroyed in the attack. According to the Ukrainian analysis group Frontelligence Insight, the arsenal contained, among other things, 122-millimeter rockets, 82-millimeter mortar bombs and 7.62-millimeter ammunition for rifles and machine guns.
Severe loss: Putin’s most important missiles may have been hit by the drone attack
But it is also possible that the arsenal contained stocks of much more powerful and rarer weapons, marking a milestone in the Ukraine war. The pro-government Ukrainian news platform Defense Express reported that North Korean KN23 ballistic missiles, Grad missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles were located at the site.
According to information from Forbes S-300 air defense missiles may also have been hit. These weapons are used by Russian forces to bomb Ukrainian cities and electrical infrastructure from hundreds of kilometers away.
Drone fire in Ukraine war triggers earthquake-force explosion in Russia
As a result of the drone attack on Wednesday morning, a massive fire broke out, Ukrainian security sources said, according to information from the AFPThe region’s governor, Igor Rudenya, said the fire had led to a “partial evacuation of residents” in the area and that 150 firefighters and rescue workers were battling the fire. Some people were slightly injured, but there were no fatalities, he said.
Videos on Russian online networks showed a fireball rising into the night sky while a shock wave spread below. Another video showed columns of smoke and flames rising above a body of water. According to information from Reuters The explosion had the force of an earthquake. NASA satellites recorded strong heat sources in the early hours of September 18. Earthquake monitoring stations registered a small earthquake.
In the worst-case scenario, Russia has lost a significant amount of ammunition due to drone attacks
It is not yet clear how badly the Ukrainian attack actually hit Russia’s military. The most optimistic scenario for Russia is, according to Forbesthat only a few ballistic missiles were stationed at Toropets. The worst-case scenario for Russia would be that it has just lost a significant portion of its best munitions through attacks deep inside Ukraine.
A source within the Ukrainian security services told the news agency AFP that Ukrainian drones had destroyed “a large warehouse of the Main Directorate of Missiles and Artillery of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the city of Toropets, Tver region.” The site was used to store “missiles for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition.” “After the Ukrainian drones hit, an extremely powerful detonation began,” the source explained. The fire spread over six kilometers.
13 Russian churches in Russia damaged by Ukrainian attack
The drone attack in Tver also damaged 13 churches, according to Catholic News Agency reported. The pressure waves from the explosions shattered windows and doors, the local bishop Adrian (Ulyanov) told the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I. “The interior of the churches was also damaged,” the Moscow Patriarchate’s website said on Thursday. The Patriarchate pointed out that there were no fatalities among the residents of the city of Toropets. (lm/afp/dpa)
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