A massive explosion was caused by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack on a seemingly “invulnerable” weapons warehouse in Russia, with a smoke-mushroom rising above the area.
The explosions occurred in two missile and ammunition warehouses, 235 miles west of Moscow, causing incalculable damage.
Shocking videos captured the moment of the first explosion, which was followed by repeated fires and explosions, with Russian President Vladimir Putin losing equipment worth tens of millions, intended for the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has also admitted to the attack, with a source from the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) stating that “the warehouse contained missiles for the Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided bombs, and artillery shells.”
According to international media reports, this is one of the largest Ukrainian kamikaze drone attacks.
According to a 2018 report by the Russian news agency RIA, Russia was building an arsenal in the town of Toropets, a 1,000-year-old city with a population of just over 11,000. The then-Deputy Minister of Defense, General Dmitry Bulgakov, had assured that the warehouse was “protected from external attacks” and “resistant to explosions and fires.”
The warehouse contained up to 240 tons of missiles, ammunition, and explosives, with Ukrainian war correspondent Denis Kazansky stating: “The scale of the explosion at the warehouse in the Tver region is impressive… The 107th arsenal of the Central Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Federation is on fire.”
According to Kazansky, the warehouse stored missiles for multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), shells, and anti-aircraft missiles. It is estimated that there were around 30,000 tons of stockpiles, with the possibility that missiles from North Korea and Iran were also included.
Despite Russian efforts to explain the explosions as a result of debris from destroyed drones, most attacks of this kind are direct hits from Ukrainian drones that manage to evade Russian defensive lines.
