Ukrainian drones struck two Russian munition depots in an overnight attack that caused one of Russia’s largest ammo storage facilities to explode in a massive, fiery blaze Saturday, officials said.
Kyiv’s military general staff claimed the attack targeted ammunition facilities in Tikhoretsk and Oktyabrsky, with the former allegedly harboring about 2,000 tons of munitions, including weapons from North Korea.
Shocking videos uploaded to social media on Saturday from Tikhoretsk, in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, show the moment the military facility erupts into a cloud of fire, with burning projectiles launched into the sky.
“The (Tikhoretsk) facility is in the top three largest munitions storages of the occupiers, and is one of the key points in the Russian military logistical system,” the general staff said in a statement about the attack.
The strike triggered Krasnodar regional governor Venyamin Kondratyev to order an evacuation near the facility, forcing more than 100 residents to relocate to local hotels.
A Ukrainian security source told Reuters that drones were used in the attack against both ammunition depots, with the second attack hitting an unspecified facility at Russia’s Shaikovka military airfield.
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
The attacks came a week after a Ukrainian drone hit another Russian weapons depot in Toropets, with the immense blast registering on earthquake monitoring stations in the region.
The strikes on the large Russian weapons facilities may force Moscow to “reorganize and disperse support and logistics systems within Russia to mitigate the impact of such strikes,” according to an analysis from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
The latest drone strikes came as the Kremlin’s Ministry of Defense said its forces intercepted 101 drones, including 21 in the same regions where the munitions depots were located.
Following the attack, Russia launched a series of new strikes on Kharkiv, with bombs hitting a civilian high-rise apartment that left at least 21 wounded.
With Post wires.
