Ukrainian drones hit missile warehouse deep in Russia in massive blast

KYIV - Ukrainian drones attacked overnight a weapons depot filled with missiles some 300 miles inside Russia, releasing a massive fireball into the nighttime sky - the latest strike on Russian military targets by Ukrainian forces using their own weapons.

An official from Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, said Wednesday that military intelligence and special forces carried out the attack, which “literally wiped off the face of the Earth” the ammunition warehouse. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The base housed Iskander tactical missiles, Tochka-U missile systems, antiaircraft missiles, artillery ammunition and glide bombs, the official said - among the weapons that have pummeled Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure for much of the year.

North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles were also located at the storage facility, said a Ukrainian Defense Ministry official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. He added that the attack involved “more than 100 drones.”

Verified videos on social media showed extensive fires and explosions at the ammunition storage facility in Toropets in Russia’s Tver region, some 250 miles west of Moscow. Satellite images showed extensive fires over what appeared to be a complex of bunkers in the town. NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System also showed the whole complex affected by fire on Wednesday morning.

The drone attack took place as Ukrainian officials are lobbying their allies hard to allow them to use Western-supplied missiles to strike deep within Russia, to destroy precisely these kinds of weapons systems doing so much damage in Ukraine.

Western officials are resisting giving permission for such attacks, saying that this could lead to an escalation in the war, or be less effective than the Ukrainians hope. Kyiv officials, in response, point to attacks like the one carried out in Toropets as evidence that they are effective and pose no extra risk of a Russian response.

Last, week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated pleas to allow long-range strikes into Russia to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who visited Kyiv. Blinken offered no concrete assurances, however, and said he would take the case back to Washington for further discussion.

The permission has taken on a particular urgency, as Ukrainian forces find themselves under increasing pressure in the country’s east and Russia’s Kursk region, where they currently occupy territory after a surprise incursion last month.

Moscow’s missiles and drones are hammering Ukraine, with air raid alerts and strikes on the country’s infrastructure a nightly occurrence. Kyiv officials warn that power outages this winter will be a given - the only question being whether they will last a few hours or for most of the day.

Ukrainian officials also said that stocks of one of Russia’s signature weapons, the glide bombs, were destroyed in the attack. Russian forces have outfitted Soviet-era bombs with wings and guidance systems, allowing them to fly for dozens of miles and hit Ukrainian front lines and urban areas with devastating effect.

On Sunday, a 550-pound glide bomb hit an apartment building in the eastern city of Kharkiv, killing one person and injuring 41, while causing a fire in the upper stories.

The Toropets attack, however, showcases Ukraine’s own military innovations, as it has developed a fleet of drones that can strike deep into Russia. Last week, Kyiv forces launched a major drone attack on Moscow and eight other regions, though the results pale in comparison with the fireball in Toropets.

Russian authorities played down the attack and the Tver regional government Telegram channel said that “a fire started as a result of drone debris falling while air defense forces were repelling an attack,” but made no mention of the ammunition storage facility.

Igor Rudenya, governor of the Tver region, announced a partial evacuation of the Toropets population of around 11,000, while “air defense forces continue to repel a massive attack by drones in the sky above the city,” the Telegram channel said. Later, Rudenya said that access to Toropets was open and residents could return.

The Tass news agency also reported that 13 of those injured in the attack were hospitalized.

Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, who writes under the handle Rybar, rejected the official story that the explosions in Toropets were caused by falling debris from drones.

“This is obviously not the case,” Zvinchuk wrote on his popular Telegram channel with 1.3 million followers, adding that Ukraine launched drone attacks across Russia, with air defenses operating in the Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol and Smolensk regions.

“If everything that happened was caused by ‘falling debris,’ an investigation has more work to do,” Zvinchuk wrote.

The weapons complex was built in 2018, according to a report from Tass. “The arsenal makes it possible to shelter missile and ammunition stockpiles from external impact and ensure their safety and explosion and fire safety. The full load of each storage facility of the arsenal is up to 240 tons,” it reported, citing Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov, then deputy defense minister.

For their part, Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 52 drones and three guided missiles, all of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses and aviation or redirected by radio warfare systems, Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram.

Russian drones also attacked electrical facilities overnight in the city of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine. Power generation was “under pressure,” but there were no injuries, the Sumy regional administration said on Telegram.

In the early morning Wednesday, Russian drones also pummeled Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine, killing one person, injuring another and damaging 19 houses, Ukraine’s emergency services said.

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Abbakumova and Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia. Kostiantyn Khudov in Kyiv contributed to this report.