A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack reportedly triggered a massive explosion at a major arsenal in Russia’s Tver region on Wednesday, leading to the evacuation of a nearby town. The explosion, captured in unverified videos circulating on social media, sent a towering ball of fire into the night sky and caused multiple detonations that reverberated across a lake approximately 380 km (240 miles) west of Moscow.
According to NASA satellite data, intense heat sources were detected over a 14-square-kilometer (5-square-mile) area in the early hours, while local earthquake monitoring stations recorded what appeared to be a small seismic event.
Pro-Russian military blogger Yuri Podolyaka commented on the attack, stating, “The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets. Everything that can burn is already burning there and exploding.” The site, previously reported by Russian state media as a significant storage facility for conventional weapons, was subjected to what seemed to be military censorship, with official Russian outlets offering limited coverage of the incident.
Tver region Governor Igor Rudenya confirmed that Ukrainian drones had been intercepted, though he refrained from disclosing what had ignited. Residents from Toropets were evacuated as a precaution, with Rudenya later announcing that the fire had been extinguished and that evacuees could return safely. No fatalities were recorded.
A source within Ukraine’s SBU state security service informed Reuters that the drone strike had destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs, and artillery ammunition. There has been no official comment from the Ukrainian government.
The sheer magnitude of the blast raised concerns, with George William Herbert, an expert from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, estimating the explosion’s power to be equivalent to 200-240 tons of high explosives.
Online discussions on Russian social media platforms, including VK, revealed the community’s shock and concern. Residents of nearby Kudino, located 4.5 km (2.8 miles) from Toropets, described the devastation, with reports of homes destroyed. “People, does anyone know what’s happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house,” wrote one resident, while another simply stated, “It’s horror there.”
The attack has also sparked widespread outrage among Russians, with some questioning the fortifications at the ammunition depot. A 2018 report by the RIA state news agency detailed that the facility was designed to store missiles, ammunition, and explosives, with structures supposedly robust enough to withstand airstrikes and even nuclear explosions. However, the devastation caused by this attack has cast doubt on those claims.
As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, both sides reported a series of drone attacks overnight. Russia claimed to have intercepted 54 drones across five regions, while Ukraine reported shooting down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow.
The incident at Toropets has underscored the vulnerability of military facilities, further intensifying an already volatile conflict.
By Jenny Kin Jacobs, Investigative Journalism Reportika
