Ukraine says it wiped a key Russian missile and artillery arsenal ‘off the face of the earth’ in long-range strikes
Satellite imagery of a Russian weapons storage facility in Toropets on September 7. Ukraine hit it overnight.
Ukrainian forces used long-range drones to strike a key Russian ammunition depot overnight, destroying missiles, bombs, and artillery.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine told B-17 on Wednesday that the attack targeted a large warehouse in the town of Toropets, in Russia’s western Tver region. The source spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive operations.
The source said the warehouse belonged to the Russian defense ministry’s main missile and artillery department, adding that Moscow stored Iskander and Tochka ballistic missiles, artillery ammunition, and bombs at the site.
The drone attack appeared to trigger powerful blasts, setting the surrounding area ablaze, and forced the local population to evacuate. The warehouse was “literally wiped off the face of the earth,” the source said, according to a translation of their remarks.
Footage circulating on social media early Wednesday showed a massive fireball and plumes of smoke in Toropets, located north of Ukraine near Russia’s border with Belarus.
Overnight, Ukrainian strikes hit the biggest Russian ammunition depot since the beginning of the war – 107th Arsenal GRAU near Toropets in Tver Oblast of Russia.
The arsenal was totally obliterated due to secondary explosions and raging fires. pic.twitter.com/X7GwW4JGgN
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) September 18, 2024
Russia’s 107th GRAU Arsenal in Toropets is covered in a series of infernos and secondary explosions after a Ukrainian drone attack last night.
The facility, which houses thousands of tons of Russian ammunition, continues to burn into this morning. pic.twitter.com/wEoiFGOvp5
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 18, 2024
B-17 could not independently verify the video footage.
“The SBU, together with its colleagues from the Defense Forces, continues to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy, with which it destroys Ukrainian cities,” the SBU source said, adding that “we are working further to organize a similar ‘picture’ at other Russian military facilities that are working for the war against Ukraine.”
Satellite imagery captured by Maxar Technologies of the facility before and after the Ukrainian attack revealed extensive damage to the site and underscored the ensuing fire.
An image of the Toropets facility on September 7.
The facility after the Ukrainian attack on Wednesday.
Russia’s defense ministry said it shot down dozens of Ukrainian drones on Wednesday, although it did not specify where.
A former Ukrainian military officer who goes by the social media handle Tatarigami called the Toropets attack “a very significant achievement.”
“We’re likely looking at the loss of thousands of tons of explosive materials, shells, and rockets,” they wrote in a post on X. “In events of this magnitude, replacement can’t be quick.”
Another image of the aftermath of the Ukrainian attack.
The attack marks Ukraine’s latest long-range strike targeting an important military installation inside Russia. Key airbases have also been struck in recent weeks.
Ukraine is barred from using its arsenal of powerful, Western-provided missiles to strike inside Russia, so it has relied heavily on domestically produced attack drones to work around these limitations.
However, Kyiv has long argued that such restrictions curb its ability to fight Russia as effectively as it could without them and continues to push for their removal.
“The only way to counter [Russian] terror is with a systemic solution, and that solution is long-range capabilities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nationwide address over the weekend.
