Ukrainian drones strike a large military depot in a Russian town northwest of Moscow

[September 18, 2024]  By HANNA ARHIROVA

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge blaze and prompting the evacuation of some local residents, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recently announced — but still confidential — plan for winning the war “can work” and help end the conflict that is now in its third year.

Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

The attack was carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service, along with Ukraine’s Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the operation.

According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area 6 kilometers (4 miles) wide.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defense systems were working to repel a “massive drone attack” on Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuation of some local residents.

There was no immediate information about whether the strikes had caused any casualties.

Successful Ukrainian strikes on targets deep inside Russia have become more common as the war has progressed and Kyiv developed its drone technology.

Zelenskyy is also seeking the approval from Western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some Western leaders have balked at that possibility, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict.

In this photo released by Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, Tver region governor Igor Rudenya, center, arrives to attend a meeting of the operational headquarters in Toropets, following the strike by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Toropets, Russia. (Press Service of the Government of the Tver Region of Russia via AP)

Ukraine’s targeting of Russian military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making Russian civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine, is part of Kyiv's strategy.

The swift push by Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Kursk border region last month fits into that plan, which apparently seeks to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down.

Putin, however, has shown no signs of backing down, and has been trying to grind down Ukraine's resolve through attritional warfare and also sap the West’s support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict. That has come at a price, however, as the U.K. Defense Ministry estimates that the war has likely killed and wounded more than 600,000 Russian troops.

On Tuesday, Putin ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by Dec. 1.

Zelenskyy last month said his plan to victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins. The plan has been kept under wraps but the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during a news conference Tuesday that Washington officials have seen it.

“We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work,” she said, adding that the United States will bring it up with other world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. She did not comment on what the plan contains.

All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved