Consequences seen from space: Details on Ukrainian strike at Russia's warehouse in Tver region
Illustrative photo: Ukrainian Defense Forces strike a missile depot in Tver region (t.me mchs_official)
On the night of September 18, the Ukrainian Defense Forces attacked a large ammunition and missile depot in Toropets, Tver region, Russia. The consequences of the attack were visible even from space.
Read more about the attack on the Russian army depot in the Tver region in RBC-Ukraine's report below.
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Attack details
Last night, the network reported explosions in Russia's Tver region. The Russians immediately announced a drone attack on the town of Toropets.
The governor of the Tver region, Igor Rudenya, said on Telegram that a fire allegedly broke out after the wreckage of the downed drones fell. He also reported partial evacuation of the population from the area where air defense is operating and the fire is being localized.
From the footage posted online, it was immediately clear that a massive fire had broken out, accompanied by heavy smoke and detonation.
Russian Telegram channels later reported that the 107th arsenal of the GRU (Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense), where artillery ammunition and missiles were stored, was attacked.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that 54 drones were allegedly destroyed overnight, but the Russian report did not mention the work of air defense in the Tver region.
Sources told RBC-Ukraine that the attack on the warehouse was a special operation of Ukrainian defenders, involving the Security Service of Ukraine, Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, and the Special Operations Forces. It is confirmed that the attack targeted the warehouse of the Missile and Artillery Department, where the Russians stored missiles for Iskander tactical systems, KN23 ballistic missiles, missiles for Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs, S-300s, and artillery ammunition.
According to sources, more than a hundred attack drones were involved. The distance from the Ukrainian border to the target is about 500 km.
Attacked warehouse
The city of Toropets is located 263 km west of Tver and is a district center. As of 2015, about 12 thousand people lived there.
Toropets is home to military unit 54169 and military unit 11777 (formerly 55443), the 107th arsenal of the GRU (Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry).
Russian state media reported in 2015 that an arsenal for storing missiles and other ammunition was being built in Toropets, and in 2018 this was confirmed by local media.
Consequences visible from space
NASA satellites recorded thermal readings at a warehouse in Russia's Tver region after the attack. Monitoring groups drew attention to this and published satellite images.
They show a fairly large-scale fire on almost the entire territory of the 107th GRU arsenal.
NASA satellite image (t.me/astrapress)
In addition, the scale of the detonation is also confirmed by OSINT analysts. The plume of smoke after the strike on the warehouse was recorded by satellites.
Several small earthquakes also occurred in the Tver region of Russia after the attack. The first earthquake was recorded at 3:56 a.m. Kyiv time. Its magnitude was 2.8. After that, within a few hours, 16 more earthquakes occurred with magnitudes ranging from 0.5 to 2.8.
Sources: Astra, Baza, Shot Telegram channels, Wikipedia publications, RBC-Ukraine sources, and OSINT technical publications.
On the night of September 18, a fuel and lubricant warehouse also burned in Russia. It happened in Yaroslavl, and the Russians did not report the cause of the fire.
The fire was also large-scale, with smoke visible for several kilometers.
