On Saturday morning, Ukrainian drones targeted two ammunition depots—one in Tikhoretsk, located in Russia’s southwestern Krasnodar region, and another in the town of Toropets in the Tver region of western Russia, roughly 300 miles from Ukraine. These back-to-back strikes came just four days after an earlier attack in Toropets, which destroyed a large Russian ammunition stockpile resulting in a ‘seismic’ explosion.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff confirmed the attacks, stating that their forces hit the depot in Tikhoretsk in collaboration with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), while the SBU independently targeted the depot in Oktyabrsky, in the Tver region. “Fire and detonation are recorded in the areas of both military arsenals,” read the official statement.
The depot in Tikhoretsk was reportedly one of the three largest ammunition storage facilities supporting Russian military operations. Ukrainian officials estimated that around 2,000 tons of ammunition, including rounds sourced from North Korea, were present at the site at the time of the strike. The impact caused a towering fireball that was large enough to be detected by NASA’s fire-spotting satellites and even registered as a small earthquake.
BREAKING:
Several large Russian weapons depots destroyed in Ukrainian drone swarm strikes a few hours ago.
This video shows the weapons depot storing North Korean artillery shells exploding in Tikhoretsk, in the Krasnodar region nearly 500 km from the frontlines. pic.twitter.com/Kzsdsua7iT
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 21, 2024
Satellite imagery analyzed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty seemed to confirm the extent of the damage, showing a significant blaze at the Tikhoretsk munitions facility. Reports indicate that the ammunition stockpile held a variety of weapons, including small arms rounds, mortar shells, artillery rockets, and even long-range ballistic missiles like Russian-made Iskanders and North Korean KN-23s.
Higher-quality satellite images of the consequences of yesterday’s attack on the BC warehouse near Tikhoretsk pic.twitter.com/oztPUbAYdU
— Sander (@SanderRegter) September 22, 2024
In Toropets, similar reports of a massive explosion suggested that the Ukrainian strike was significant enough to disrupt Russia’s logistical system. The British Defense Ministry confirmed that the earlier strike in Toropets had resulted in an explosion equivalent to a mild earthquake.
The Ukrainian strikes likely involved the latest explosive unmanned aerial vehicle, the jet-propelled Palianytsia “missile drone,” which has been in development for over a year and recently saw combat deployment. Russian civilians in Toropets reported hearing jet engines overhead before the depot exploded, indicating the use of these jet-powered drones capable of carrying heavier payloads over long distances.
Footage of the testing of the new Ukrainian drone ‘Palyanitsa’ pic.twitter.com/JLWX39dhl9
— Preston Stewart (@prestonstew_) August 24, 2024
Russian officials acknowledged the Ukrainian drone attack on the Tikhoretsk depot, with Krasnodar region governor Venyamin Kondratyev announcing the evacuation of some residents due to the explosion’s effects.
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