Ukraine Presidential Office on attack at Russian Toropets arms depot: Impressive, but not enough
Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak (Getty Images)
There should be many more strikes like the drone attack on the warehouse in Toropets, Tver region of Russia, allowing for a “fair finalization” of the war in Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, told RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
“I can only comment shortly: not enough. Very effective, very impressive, but not enough. And this is the problem today. Because the destruction of this infrastructure, including the warehouses, will optimally influence the events on the front line and will greatly affect the social consequences in Russia,” he said.
This will continue to form the understanding among Russians that the war is gradually coming into the Russian territory.
“And then we will finally see a different Russia, they will be hysterical, and they will put pressure on their elite. But in order to scale this up, we need to lift these informal bans. And the second is a significant increase in the number of tools. Drones are one thing, but attacks at a distance of 100-200-300 kilometers from the front line or the state border of Ukraine with Russia are another, and to destroy them (targets in Russia -ed.) with missiles. Ballistic missiles. With ballistic missiles of the appropriate range,” Podolyak explained.
He emphasizes that if it works the same way as during the attack on the warehouse in Toropets, it will have “significant social impacts and significant impacts on the course of events on the front line.”
“I have an assumption that everything that Russia sold as a picture of its 'monstrosity' is not true. This is what we are saying to our partners: 'Stop being afraid of Russia, it's all fake'. It is possible to fight on the territory of Russia. We are already seeing this, not only in the Kursk region but also in Bryansk, or Rostov, or Saratov regions, etc. And it is possible to increase strikes on infrastructure, destroying the entire military component of Russia,” he added.
In support of his words, Podolyak reminded that Russians were already forced to turn to North Korea and received shells because the key shells were North Korean.
“Russia has received more than 6-7 million missiles from the DPRK, and the intelligence can certainly provide clear statistics. And they are already receiving missiles of a certain range from Iran. And of course, we can destroy all of this, preventing it from being used on the front line. And in general, Russia has been building all this rather fictitiously. As far as I remember, there are already more than 500 criminal cases of corruption in the Russian defense procurement system. This all involves the team of Shoigu. Many generals have been arrested today. And, once again, we come to the understanding that in this war, the collapse of Russian infrastructure - in the depths of the territory also - will have a huge impact on further events,” Podolyak added.
He also believes that “this war can be fairly finalized.”
“We need to end the discussion, the discussion that Russia is a country that cannot be defeated because it has a huge amount of resources, etc. No, it is not. And this strike on Toropets, I mean the Tver region, clearly shows that you can destroy everything, regardless of what Russian propaganda says,” he summarized.
Ukraine forces strike at warehouse in Toropets
On the night of September 18, the Ukrainian Defense Forces struck a powerful blow at a warehouse with shells and missiles in Toropets, Tver region.
Russia stored ammunition and missiles for S-300, S-400, Iskander, and Tochka-U systems at this facility. They also accumulated a stockpile of DPRK KN23 missiles here.
The detonation after the drone attack caused not only fire but also an earthquake, as about 30,000 tons of ammunition exploded.
The media reported that the depot in Toropets was quite important for Russia, as it supplied its group in the Kursk region.
