A Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian missile facility early Wednesday threw up towering fireballs visible from space and thundering detonations that triggered earthquake monitors.
Even by the standards of this incendiary conflict, video showing the blasts north of Moscow was remarkable.
Officials on both sides said it was the result of a large Ukrainian drone attack on Toropets, a town in the Tver region around 230 miles from the Russian capital. Russian state media has previously reported that the military was building an arsenal for storing missiles and other explosives there.
Speaking to reporters early Wednesday, Tver Gov. Igor Rudenya said that all drones in the region were shot down and that there was a fire on the ground as a result of debris from a downed drone. As he spoke, loud explosions could be heard in the background.
Rudenya said he ordered a partial evacuation of the surrounding area, and state media reported that schools and kindergartens had been shuttered while firefighters worked to stanch the blazes.
He later announced that people could return to their homes and said all utilities in the region were working. Thirteen people were taken to hospitals in moderate condition, Russian news agencies reported, citing the region's health ministry.
The fires were so intense that they were picked up by NASA satellites, while the explosion was recorded as a 3.2-magnitude earthquake by the Norwegian monitoring agency NORSAR.
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed to NBC News that its drones had “wiped off the face of the Earth a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department” of Russia’s military. The source, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operations, said Iskander, Tochka and KAB missiles were all being stored there.
The source said the attack was part of Ukraine’s attempt “to methodically reduce the missile potential of the enemy, with which it destroys Ukrainian cities.”
The video, geolocated and distributed by Reuters, was consistent with 200 to 240 tons of high explosives detonating, George William Herbert, who teaches at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California, told the news agency.
Russia’s air defense systems destroyed 54 drones launched overnight against five western Russian regions, Russian state news agencies said, citing a report from Moscow’s Defense Ministry.
Since its invasion in February 2022, Russia has been raining missiles on Ukraine, destroying sites such as schools, hospitals and apartment blocks, while maintaining it does not target civilians.
Kyiv has increasingly been hitting back with drone attacks on what it says are military targets on Russian soil. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing the U.S. and other allies to lift restrictions that prohibit his using powerful, long-range Western weapons to strike deeper into Russia.
Washington and other countries have appeared increasingly open to the idea, drawing anger and warnings of retaliation from the Kremlin.
CORRECTION (Sept. 18, 2024, 9 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated when Russia invaded Ukraine. It was in February 2022, not February 2024.
