THIS is the moment apocalyptic explosions tore apart two massive Russian missile and ammunition storage depots.
One at Tikhoretsk contained vast quantities of munitions supplied to Vladimir Putin by Kim Jong-un for use in the Kremlin dictator’s bombardment of Ukraine.
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Mushroom clouds and igniting shells lit up the night sky at the facility in Krasnodar region in a devastating pinpoint strike by Ukrainian kamikaze drones early on Saturday.
But Ukraine also hit a new ammunition silo complex at Toropets in Tver region – just ten miles from an “indestructible” 30,000-ton munitions storage site that was obliterated on Wednesday.
An unconfirmed report suggested hundreds of Russian troops may have been based at the 23rd GRAU arsenal in the village of Oktyabrsky in Tver region.
If so, their fate is unknown, but there were Russian fears of casualties at both exploded arms depots.
NASA satellite imagery indicated ongoing fires at the Tver region site, and there was disruption on a main railway line and evacuation of Staraya Toropa station.
“The number of fires is increasing every minute,” reported the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.
Russia claimed to have downed 101 kamikaze drones from Ukraine in overnight work by air defences.
The three hits in as many days are a significant blow to the Russian war effort.
Russian sources maintained their usual line that the strikes leading to sky-high fireball explosions were from debris of shot down drones, while most experts – including pro-war Moscow analysts – suspect direct hits.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Krasnodar region, wrote on his official Telegram channel that Tikhoretsk was “subjected to a terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime.
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The detonation site is believed to be a base of military unit 57229-41.
“Two drones were suppressed by air defence and electronic warfare forces.
“Due to the fall of debris from one of them, a fire broke out, which spread to explosive objects. Detonation began.
“Currently, for safety reasons, residents of the village located near the site of the fire are being temporarily evacuated to nearby settlements.”
Western intelligence had pinpointed the Tikhoretsk missile and ammunition complex as being at the end of a 6,000-mile transit route across Siberia from North Korea for mountains of munitions sent by Kim to aid Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The North Korean firepower was stashed here before being sent to the frontline.
Among supplies from Pyongyang are deadly KN-23 missiles and 122mm and 152mm artillery shells.
Western secret services had already calculated significant consequences for Russia from the destruction of the first Toropets storage facility earlier this week.
The blowing up today of two more arsenals – 1,000 miles apart – will have acute ramifications for dictator Putin.
Pro-war Military Informant channel expressed concern at the number of Ukrainian strikes on ammunition facilities, and the reasons given by officials.
“Tikhoretsk is far from the first munitions arsenal hit recently and one can only wonder whether the statements about falling debris from downed drones play a role in this,” said the channel.
“It is one question if these are just statements for a population that is being treated as idiots.
“It is another matter if this is also reflected in the reports going to the top – we don’t need more air defence systems, we have shot down everything, just debris falling, force majeure.”
Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defence Forces Intelligence Centre, estimated this week that Russia had lost “two to three months’ supply of ammunition” in the first strike in Tver region.
Some 30,000 tons of explosive ordnance were detonated, “which means 750,000 shells”.
“As a result of this attack, Russia has suffered losses in ammunition and we will see the impact of these losses on the front in the coming weeks.”
In Ukraine, A 12-year-old boy and two women aged 75 and 79 died in a Russian attack in Kryvyi Rih.
Three more people were injured.
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