Drone Strike On Arsenal Triggers Biggest Explosion On Russian Soil Of The War
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack triggered a massive explosion and large fires in northwestern Russia’s Tver region. Is believed the initial drone strike hit an important Russian weapons stockpile.
“A fire started in Toropets, Tver region, as a result of falling debris from a drone that was repelled by air defense forces,” the Tver regional administration said early Wednesday. The oblast declared a “partial evacuation” due to the large blast and surrounding fires. Social media video showed a huge fireball erupt against the night sky.
Just look at the size of the blast in Tver. It takes the sound of the explosion 6 seconds to arrive, so this must have been 2km (1.3 miles) away. Must be the largest explosion of the war so far. Russians lost a lot of ammo. pic.twitter.com/c69oVR6Pr7
— kraut △ (@Der_Parrot) September 18, 2024
The above video was likely take from 2km away or more, strongly suggesting this could be the largest explosion of the war on Russian territory. There’s widespread speculation that it was a missile and ammo storage site.
“A NASA satellite image showed a concentrated set of fires east of Toropets, covering an area of 13 square kilometers (5.2 square miles) as of early Wednesday,” Amsterdam-based The Moscow Times writes.
“The site corresponds with the location of the Russian Defense Ministry’s main missile and artillery directorate arsenal, situated 488 kilometers northeast of Ukraine’s border,” the report continues. If true, then Moscow is likely to view such a major attack so deep into Russia as having a NATO hand behind it.
Reuters has described it as an “earthquake-sized blast” which also resulted in a mushroom cloud rising high after the explosion. Some online commentators went so far as to say the blast looks suspiciously nuclear.
President Putin last week said it has become clear that NATO countries assist with targeting and that its satellites and coordinating systems must be involved in such attacks.
Stillframe/social media image showing muchroom cloud rising after attack.
Kyiv owned up to the attack, with a government statement saying Ukraine’s Security Service and Intelligence and Special Operations Forces launched the strike. Russian state media has been quiet about the details or confirmation, and the Russian defense ministry has seemed slow to weigh in. This is likely because it was a highly sensitive facility and this is a huge blow to Russia’s military.
A EuroNews/AP report has quoted a Ukrainian source as saying “the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells.”
The big overnight cross-border drone attack came amid a broader wave that included possibly hundreds of UAVs. Russia’s defense ministry said its air defense forces shot down 54 of them over five regions during the night morning hours attack.
The drone assault on the arsenal triggered secondary blasts resulting in fires that spread across a huge expanse. The smoke clouds hovering over the site have nearly blacked out the sun:
💥Tonight, as a result of a 🇺🇦Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike, the ammunition warehouse in the city of Toropets, Tver region was destroyed.
~766km from Ukraine 🤯🤯🤯
A GREAT START TO THE DAY!🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/YLFPa2gp7E
— Cloooud |🇺🇦 (@GloOouD) September 18, 2024
According to a review summary of what’s now about the Tver site that exploded via Al Jazeera:
- According to a RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets.
- The arsenal was built in 2015 at a cost of 3.6 billion roubles ($39m), according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Russian government’s official newspaper.
- It is equipped with cold and heated rooms, electrical substations, treatment facilities, water and fuel storage tanks, and more than 100 fire ponds, the newspaper said.
- The arsenal was put into operation in 2018, then-deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Bulgakov told RIA. Bulgakov was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges, which he denies.
- Bulgakov said in 2018 that the arsenal is equipped with concrete facilities for storing missiles, ammunition and explosives in the proper conditions, RIA reported.
- Bulgakov told Russian army news outlet Zvezda in 2018 that the full load of each storage facility of the arsenal is up to 240 tonnes.
- The arsenal also has facilities to accommodate up to 200 servicemen, the RIA report says.
The US and UK have meanwhile been in discussions about greenlighting use of long-range missiles against Russia. The US administration has been cautious in the face of Putin’s red lines.
*********
Emphasis added by (TLB) with header featured image (edited) credit: org. article content
••••
••••
Stay tuned tuned…
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Looks like Putin’s red lines have been crossed