Satellite images have revealed the devastation wrought by a massive Ukrainian drone strike on an important Russian arms depot 400 kilometers west of Moscow.
The images by Planet Labs published by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, show smoke covering a large swath of territory over the Tver region town of Toropets, which houses two military bases, hours after the early morning attack on September 18 that a Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) source said "wiped the depot off the face of the Earth."
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Blasts At Arms Depot Shake Russia's Tver Region During Ukrainian Drone Attack
Others taken by the space technology company Maxar showed that the strike involving more than 100 drones left plumes of smoke and scattered fires over the location of the depot used to store missiles, glide bombs, and other munitions.
Sensors detected seismic activity equal to that of a minor earthquake, and NASA satellites picked up heat sources that suggested that 14 square kilometers of territory were affected by fires.
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The early morning attack on September 18 sent huge fireballs into the night sky as munitions detonated, forcing a partial evacuation of local residents.
Russia's Health Ministry said that 13 people in Toropets, a town of about 11,000 people, were hospitalized following the attack. The injuries were said to be "moderate," and no deaths were reported. Russian media reported that the number of injuries was as high as 20.
Videos on social media showed massive fires and damage to buildings in Toropets itself, while locals said on chat groups that Tsikarevo, a village just 200 meters from the base, had been heavily damaged.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking after the attack on September 18, lauded the "very important" result of the Ukrainian military activity on Russian soil, without mentioning the Tver region specifically. "Very effective, spectacular, but not enough," he said.
While Kyiv seldom officially takes credit for drone attacks on Russia, an SBU source told RFE/RL that the attack was carried out by the SBU in cooperation with the Intelligence and Special Operations Force.
According to the independent online news channel Verstka, the depot held munitions worth an estimated $38 million. The depot was inaugurated in 2018 by former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Bulgakov, currently jailed on corruption charges, who said at the time that the heavily fortified depot was "protected from air and missile strikes and even the damaging effects of a nuclear explosion."