A Ukrainian drone attack launched overnight destroyed an ammunition depot in the western Russian region of Tver, a source from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told
CNN on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian drones targeted the Russian defense ministry-operated warehouse in Toropets, which was storing Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition, the source said.
Large fires broke out from the debris of drones repelled by local air defenses, the regional government said, prompting the governor, Igor Rudenya, to order a partial evacuation of the area during the early hours of Wednesday.
NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of roughly 5 square miles at the site during the early hours of Wednesday, while earthquake monitoring stations detected what sensors thought was a small earthquake in the area, Reuters reported.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that a drone attack had been launched on the city of Toropets overnight causing a fire “due to the fall of debris,” without specifically mentioning any targeting of a weapons facility.
Videos circulating on social media, verified by CNN, showed loud detonations and multiple buildings in the depot complex on fire.
Affected residents, including 11 children, have already been evacuated to the settlements of Kunya and Velikiye Luki in the neighbouring Pskov region, TASS said. No civilians are thought to have been injured in the drone attack, the news agency reported, citing Rudenya.
“Now we are engaged in evacuating the population, residents, maintaining public order,” Rudenya said in a later video statement, stressing that multiple emergency service units were involved in the response.
