In the early hours of Wednesday, Russian citizens in the town of Toropets, located in the western region of the country, were forced to evacuate temporarily. This sudden decision came after a substantial weapons depot in the area was reportedly struck by Ukrainian drones, leading to massive explosions and fires. Both seismic sensors and satellites picked up on these disturbances. A collection of videos posted on the internet showed the fires and explosions near Toropets.
Unnamed officials from Kyiv’s SBU security services, in conversations with Ukrainian journalists, described how the drone attack had obliterated a large warehouse under the management of Russia’s main Missile and Artillery Department. The officer from SBU informed NV news agency that they, along with defence forces, were systematically disrupting the missile potential that Russia had been using to attack Ukrainian cities. This process, according to the source, was going to be extended to other Russian military bases that were actively involved in warfare against Ukraine.
Ukrainian military personnel disclosed to the media that the attack on Toropets involved over 100 domestically-produced drones. They suggested that various formidable Russian rockets, along with some ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea, were stored in Toropets. Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff for Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, shared a video of a large fireball surging above the arms silos in Toropets, tweeting that Russia’s demilitarisation was mandatory to halt the terror.
Seismic sensors detected tremors near Toropets and NASA-managed satellites identified an area spanning around 14 square kilometres that radiated intense heat. The site is located approximately 400km to the west of Moscow and over 500km to the north of the Ukrainian border. Ukraine has been actively improving its drone production and has been urging its allies to permit the use of Western-made missiles to target Russian military sites deep within its territory. The Russian government has warned that such a move would involve Western countries in the ongoing conflict.
Russian officials stated that they had brought down 54 Ukrainian drones in various regions. They pinned the blame for the Toropets fires on debris from the downed drones, although they refrained from providing details about the nature of the fires or the cause of the large explosions. The local administration made the decision to evacuate residents from the affected areas to safeguard them, attributing the decision to the regional governor of Tver, Igor Rudenya. “For the safety of citizens, we decided to move some of the population from the area where the air defence is actively engaged and the fire is being brought under control”, informed the local authorities.
Mr Rudenya revealed on Wednesday evening that inhabitants could now recommence their residence in Toropets if they so desired, assuring that all fundamental services in the area were functioning as expected. In separate news, earlier the same day, Ukraine reported successful interception of 46 out of 52 drones propelled by Moscow. Additionally, three targeted missiles launched by Russia had reportedly missed their mark. Regrettably, a Russian drone attack on the city of Kropyvnytskyi had resulted in one casualty.