Ukraine strikes again, sets Russia's arms depot on fire

Representational Image/AFP

A fire broke through a Russian arms depot in the northwestern side of the country, triggering explosions and the closure of a major highway, after Ukraine launched over 100 drones overnight and occupied Crimea, Russian news and the Defence Ministry said to AP.

According to AP, the depot seemed to be just kilometers from another depot that was struck early on Wednesday by Ukrainian drones, resulting in 13 injuries and a massive fire.

After a series of explosions, the Russian authorities closed a 100km stretch of a highway on Saturday and evacuated passengers from a nearby rail station.

Post on local Telegram channels said about 380 km northwest of Moscow and about 500lm from the Ukrainian border a missile depot was struck near the town of Toropets, in Russia's Tver region, AP reported.

As per AP, Unverified images were circulating on Telegram which showed a massive ball of fire shooting into the night sky, with numerous smoke trails left by explosions.

An arms depot and missile arsenal also caught fire in a separate attack in Krasnodar region in southwestern Russia on Saturday, causing evacuations as a result of many explosions brought on by the fire.

Social media videos displayed bright orange clouds rising beyond the horizon, as dull thuds of detonations sounded almost continuously.

According to AP, Russia's Defence Ministry early on Saturday claimed that its forces overnight shot down 101 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory and occupied Crimea. There were no immediate reports of casualties in either Russian region.

According to AP, early on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry declared that its forces had captured Crimea and shot down 101 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory during the night. No initial reports of casualties came from any part of Russia.

On September 11, in one of the largest drone strikes on Russian soil in the two-and-a-half-year conflict, over 140 Ukrainian drones targeted numerous Russian regions last night, including Moscow and the surrounding territories, killing at least one person, according to officials on Tuesday.

Gov. Andrei Vorobyov of the Moscow area reported that drones struck two multistory residential structures in the town of Ramenskoye, just outside of Moscow, causing a woman's death and three injuries.