Moscow, Getting Its Comeuppance

 

"Renovated in 2018, the facility in Toropets is estimated to have stored tonnes upon tonnes of military goods, including explosives, artillery shells and ballistic missiles."

"The former Russian deputy defence minister Dmitry Bulgakov — who was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges — said after the renovations that the site met the 'highest international standards" and could defend weapons from missiles and "even a small nuclear attack'."

"The storage site covered an area of over 5 square kilometres in size and a perimeter of more than 12 kilometres long."

euro.news

 

General view of the aftermath of a large series of explosion on an ammunition depot in Toropets, Russia, Wednesday Sept. 18, 2024. (Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies)AP/AP

However, an earthquake-quality force has changed all that; the munitions and the storage site itself is destroyed. This is Ukraine, using whatever means at its disposal to demonstrate to Russia that it has no intention of merely watching as Russian troops occupy Ukrainian territory. For its part, Moscow never imagined that Kyiv's determination to protect itself and its people would muster their collective courage, endurance and newfound fire power to probe as deeply into Russia as Russian forces have done to Ukraine.

 

It can be surprising to an aggressor to be at the receiving end of attacks they felt assured would never arrive on their own territory while the aggressor state felt confident in its ability, with a larger military and far more weaponry and sophisticated military machinery, to just roll over Ukraine, flatten it, bomb its cities, its hospitals and medical centers, along with schools, shopping centers, electrical grids and apartment blocks, displace millions of people -- and its government would be incapable of responding.  

Surprise, surprise, Vladimir Putin. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray. As when Ukrainian drones struck the military depot deep inside Russia, resulting in a huge fire, forcing some residents in the town to evacuate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of his plan to end the war, and there's nothing that is so effective in ending a war as pounding your enemy to smithereens before its stockpile of deadly weapons can be lobbed off yet again on your territory.

Military warehouses in Toropets, in Russia's Tver region located about 380 kilometres northwest of Moscow; some 500 kilometres from the border with Ukraine, highlight that the Ukrainian military has expansive plans. That's some penetration. Ukraine has become quite skilled in producing drones and has been putting them to surprisingly good use. Certainly it's doubtful that the Kremlin visualized such scenarios, even in their wildest nightmares. 

Ukraine's Security Service, in collaboration with its Intelligence and Special Operations Forces carried out the attack. According to a Kyiv security official, speaking off the record on condition of anonymity the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. The Ukrainian strikes saw the facility catching fire to burn across a 6-km-wide area. Unsurprising, of course, given the size and nature of the cache. And not so invulnerable to attack as Moscow thought, after all.

North Korean-derived KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles were among the destroyed ammunition. Reflecting a pact Russia and North Korea signed in June for mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang. The Ukrainian attack employed over 100 domestically produced exploding drones. 

As for Russia's side of things, RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities that air defence systems were working to repel a "massive drone attack" on Toropets, with its 11,000 residents. Russian citizens enjoying a taste of what it has been like for millions of Ukrainian citizens during the Russian invasion. As Kyiv continues o develop its drone technology, such successful Ukrainian strikes deep within Russia have been more frequent.

 

 

"The attack caused extensive damage to the facility and surrounding forested area which continues to burn."

"The imagery shows extensive smoke covers much of the area and a closer look at the ammunition storage area indicates that fires continue to burn in and near some bunkers."

George Barros