A drone strike on an ammunition depot in the village of Toropets, Tver region of Russia, is likely to disrupt Russia's ground operations, especially in the Kursk region. This is stated in a new report of the British Ministry of Defense based on intelligence data, according to UNN.
Details
“On the night of September 17-18, 2024, Ukraine conducted a successful unilateral unmanned aerial vehicle strike on the Toropets strategic ammunition depot in the Tver region of Russia, approximately 500 km from Ukraine. The depot is a storage site for the 107th Arsenal of the Russian Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, and almost certainly held ammunition of various calibers for frontline use, as well as missiles and cruise missiles used at nearby airfields. It also reportedly stored ammunition procured from North Korea,” the report says.
It is noted that the warehouse, repaired in 2018, is one of Russia's largest strategic ammunition depots, which directly supports its operations in Ukraine, storing more than 30 thousand tons of ammunition.
British intelligence believes that the reason for the damage to the depot was the improper storage of old ammunition, which remained vulnerable to drone strikes despite being modernized in 2018 after the 2011 detonation incidents in Pugachevo, which damaged 3,000 homes and evacuated 30,000 people.
The explosion in the bunker was recorded with a magnitude of 2.7 on the Richter scale, equivalent to a small earthquake, and fires spread over a 6 km wide area. It is likely that poor storage of ammunition, which remains vulnerable to UAVs, caused a chain reaction of cascading detonations in the bunker system, resulting in huge losses of ammunition. Russian air defense continues to struggle with Ukrainian deep strike operations, despite claiming to have intercepted over 50 UAVs during this attack. Although part of a larger supply chain, this loss is likely to disrupt Russian ground operations, especially in the Kursk region
Recall
Drones of the SBU, GUR and SSO attacked a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian Defense Ministry in the town of Toropets, Tver region.