Russia’s ability to wage war – and repel occupying Ukrainian troops in Kursk – has almost certainly been badly compromised by a drone attack on an strategically crucial ammunition depot, a UK Ministry of Defence bulletin has claimed.
The MoD’s Defence HQ page on X highlighted the strike, which occurred overnight on Tuesday and involved a successful one-way attack (OWA) uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV).
The target, Toropets in Tver region is roughly 300 miles from the Ukrainian border.
The MoD said: “This depot is a storage site of the 107th Arsenal of the Russian Main Missile and Artillery Directorate and almost certainly housed munitions varying calibres for frontline use, as well as missiles and glide bombs used by nearby airfields.
“Ammunition procured from North Korea was also reportedly stored here.”
Renovated in 2018, it is one of Russia’s largest strategic ammunition depots directly supporting its operation in Ukraine, storing more than 30,000 tonnes of ordnance, the MoD statement continued.
It explained: “Recent improvements to the site had been driven by previous poor storage of aging explosive material leading to a series of explosions across several depots. One such explosion in June 2011 in Pugachevo, Udmurtia, saw 3,000 homes damaged and 30,000 people evacuated.
“The explosion at Toropets was recorded at 2.7 on the Richter scale, equivalent to a mild earthquake, with fires covering a 6km-wide area.”
The MoD concluded: “It is highly likely that poor storage of munitions, left vulnerable to OWA UAVs, caused a chain reaction of cascading detonations within the bunker system, resulting in enormous losses of ordnance.
“Russian air defence continues to struggle with Ukrainian deep strike operations, despite claiming to have intercepted more than 50 UAVS in this attack.
“Although part of a wide supply network, this loss will highly likely disrupt Russian ground operations, particularly in the Kursk region.”
Russian authorities on Saturday temporarily closed a 62-mile stretch of a highway and evacuated passengers from a nearby rail station after the attack. The road was reopened some hours later.
Unverified images circulating on Telegram showed a large ball of flame rising into the night sky and dozens of smoke trails from detonations.
Ukraine launched over 100 drones at Russia and occupied Crimea overnight, Russian news reports and the Defence Ministry said Saturday.
