Ukraine said it destroyed a large weapons stockpile in Russia overnight using long-range drones to stage the attack as Kyiv awaits US permission to use Western-made missiles in such operations.
About 100 explosive-laden uncrewed aircraft destroyed a large cache of Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs in Toropets, a town in the Tver region of western Russia, Ukrainian military officials familiar with the matter said. The facility was situated about 500km from Ukraine’s northern border.
NASA’s FIRMS monitoring system, which tracks fires worldwide using satellite data, recorded significant heat signatures on the outskirts of Toropets overnight.
Photo: Tver Press Service via AP
The area corresponded to a fenced compound containing multiple hangars, as seen on satellite imagery.
Bloomberg News was unable to independently verify the cause of the new heat signatures.
Russian authorities announced the evacuation of Toropets residents due to a fire caused by falling drone debris, Tver Governor Igor Rudenya said in a video statement relayed via the Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
As he spoke, sounds of multiple explosions could be heard in the background.
He did not comment on what caused the blasts.
The weapons depot in Toropets was built in 2018 and is one of the Russian Ministry of Defense’s largest, TASS said.
Former Russian deputy minister of defense Dmitry Bulgakov told TASS that the arsenal would be well-protected from external impact.
He was arrested on corruption charges in July.
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