Ukraine said on Saturday it had hit two Russian munition depots overnight, in attacks that illustrated its growing capability to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Russian officials acknowledged the Ukrainian attack on one of the depots in southern Krasnodar region, saying it was carried out with drones. They introduced local emergency measures to mitigate the effects of the assault.
A statement by Ukraine's military general staff said the munitions depots were at Tikhoretsk in Krasnodar region and Oktyabrsky in the western region of Tver.
“The (Tikhoretsk) facility is in the top three largest munitions storages [sic] of the occupiers, and is one of the key points in the Russian military logistical system,” the general staff wrote in a statement on Telegram.
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It said Ukraine had information that a train carrying 2,000 tonnes of munitions, including from North Korea, had been on the territory of the depot at the time of the strike.
Reuters was unable to verify the report independently.
A Ukrainian security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said drones were used in the attacks.
The source said Ukraine's domestic SBU intelligence service hit the depot in Tikhoretsk in a joint operation with the Ukrainian military, while the SBU hit the target in Oktyabrsky on its own.
The SBU has conducted regular drone attacks deep inside Russia over the past year of the war.
Krasnodar region governor Venyamin Kondratyev, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said officials had evacuated some residents while tackling the effects of the attack.
“What is important is that there is no longer any threat to residents,” he wrote. “But time is needed to carry out fully all the necessary checks of the territory.”
More than 100 residents of Tikhoretsk district and nearby Vyselkovsky district had been housed in hotels, while others had gone to stay with relatives.
Ukraine has used long-range drones as a means of closing the armament gap with Russia, which has a vast arsenal of long-range missiles. Kyiv is also seeking permission from its western allies to use long-range missiles they have provided Ukraine with to strike deep inside Russia.
The source said that SBU drones had also hit unspecified infrastructure at the Shaikovka military airfield in Russia.
An overnight Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed a 12-year-old boy and two elderly women, the regional governor said. Russia said it had struck Ukrainian energy facilities overnight using high-precision weapons and drones, Russian news agencies reported. – Reuters
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