Ukraine confirms strikes on two large Russian weapons sites

Ukraine’s armed forces confirmed overnight attacks on at least two large Russian military warehouses in a Telegram post by its General Staff.

One arms depot was situated near Tikhoretsk in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, where about 1,200 people were evacuated after what local officials described as debris from a downed drone ignited a large blaze.

The second belonged to the chief artillery command of Russia’s defense ministry near Oktiabrskiy in the Tver region, north of Moscow, Ukraine said.

The strikes came after Ukraine on Wednesday said it destroyed a large Russian weapons stockpile using long-range drones, also in the Tver region about 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Ukraine’s northern border.

In Krasnodar Krai on Saturday, fire spread to “explosive objects” and set off detonations, governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on his Telegram channel in announcing the evacuations.

The strike took place just as a new train echelon arrived at the site carrying at least 2,000 tons of ammunition, including from North Korea, according to Ukraine’s military.

Images on social media showed a large fire at what was said to be a military base in the region that’s directly east of the annexed Crimea peninsula.

NASA’s FIRMS monitoring system, which tracks fires worldwide using satellite data, recorded new heat signatures near Tikhoretsk.

The area corresponded to a fenced storage facility with hangars surrounded by ramparts and a local military airbase, as seen on satellite imagery.

A week ago, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said supplies from Pyongyang had become a major headache, since their arrival in Russia typically portends more intense Kremlin military activity within eight to nine days.

Ukraine’s Security Service drones also attacked the Shaykovka air base in Russia’s Kaluga region overnight, where Tu-22M strategic bombers - regularly involved in massive missile attacks - are believed to be based, according to a person familiar with the operation who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. Russia hasn’t commented.

The stepped-up activity comes after Ukraine on Wednesday said it destroyed a large Russian weapons stockpile using long-range drones.

In that incident, about 100 explosive-laden unmanned aircraft destroyed a large cache of Iskander and Tochka-U missiles in Toropets, a town in the Tver region of western Russia, Ukrainian military officials familiar with the matter said.

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—With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski.