A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack caused a massive explosion at a major Russian ammunition depot in the Tver region, about 380 kilometres (240 miles) west of Moscow, on Wednesday. The blast forced the evacuation of nearby residents, with war bloggers and media reporting a series of dramatic events. Unverified videos and images circulated on social media showed a massive fireball rising into the night sky, accompanied by multiple explosions that reverberated across a lake.
A Kyiv security official, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, stated that Ukraine’s Security Service, along with Ukraine’s Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, carried out the major drone strike that destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town located in the Tver region, approximately 500 kilometres (300 miles) from Ukraine's border.
According to the official cited by AP, the targeted depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, glide bombs, and artillery shells. The facility reportedly caught fire during the attack and the fire spread across an area of 6 kilometres (4 miles).
According to news agency Reuters, pro-Russian military blogger, Yuri Podolyaka, confirmed the attack, stating, "The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets. Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding)." However, no information on casualties was available at the time of reporting.
NASA satellites detected intense heat sources from a 14-square-kilometre (5 square miles) area, and earthquake monitoring stations recorded a tremor in the vicinity, Reuters' report stated.
The Tver region's governor, Igor Rudenya, said that Ukrainian drones were shot down, resulting in a fire and the evacuation of some residents. However, he did not specify what exactly was burning.
Speaking to Reuters, a woman named Irina, whose family was evacuated, confirmed, "A fire started with explosions." The drone attack had destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs, and artillery ammunition, though there was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian government, a source within Ukraine's SBU state security service told the news agency.
The explosion was of such magnitude that it resembled the detonation of 200-240 tonnes of high explosives, according to George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, the report stated.
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Russia-Ukraine War: Concerns Raised Over Blast In Tver Region
Residents of Toropets shared messages of support and concern through chatrooms on the Russian social media platform VK. Many posted queries about the safety of their homes, with one woman asking, "Does anyone know what's happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house." According to Reuters' report, another responded: "It's horror there." Kudino lies 4.5 km (2.8 miles) northeast of Toropets.
Some war bloggers raised questions about how drones could have caused such extensive damage at what was presumed to be a highly fortified facility. In 2018, Russian state media RIA reported that the Toropets arsenal was designed to store missiles, ammunition, and explosives in a facility capable of withstanding missile and nuclear strikes. Dmitry Bulgakov, a former deputy defence minister, had assured that the facility provided "reliable and safe storage," but was later arrested on corruption charges earlier this year, which he denies.
Anger was also evident among some social media users, with one posting, "Why wasn't the ammunition underground?! What are you doing???? In Kudino, houses were blown away! Why is the forest burning and no one is there... what kind of negligence is this!!!!"
While Russian air defence forces claimed to have destroyed 54 drones launched across five regions, they did not mention Tver, as per the report. Ukraine reported shooting down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow and said that three guided air missiles had missed their targets.