Ukraine-Russia war live: Drone attack ‘wipes Russian arms depot off face of the Earth’, says Kyiv
Attack triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major Russian ammo warehouse
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Ukraine’s drone attack succeeded in “wip[ing] off the face of the Earth” a major Russian weapons depot in the Tver region, Ukrainian intelligence sources said.
Sources in Ukraine’s SBU security service told The Kyiv Independent that “an extremely powerful detonation began” at the Russian defence ministry’s warehouse in Toropets following a drone strike.
The depot is believed to have housed Iskander and Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition. The attack “literally wiped off the face of the Earth a large warehouse of the main missile and artillery department of the Russian defence ministry,” the source was quoted as saying.
In Kyiv last night, president Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the outcome of the attack without directly referring to the incident. “A very important result was achieved last night on Russian territory and such actions weaken the enemy,” he said. “I thank everyone involved. Such precision is truly inspiring.”
Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky is expected to meet with US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris when he visits Washington next week, according to reports. Republican nominee Donald Trump has also said he will “probably” meet the Ukrainian president.
Mapped: Russia launches counterattack in Kursk after sending ‘significant’ forces to the region
Ukraine ‘drone attack hits major Russian arms depot’ sparking huge fire and evacuations in Tver region
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Ukrainian attack on Russian weapons store triggers earthquake-sized blast
Ukraine downs all 42 Russian drones, missile in overnight attack
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 42 drones and one of four missiles used by Russia during an overnight attack.
“The air attack of the enemy was repulsed by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, mobile fire groups and units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the anti-aircraft battle, all 42 attack UAVs were shot down!” it said on the Telegram channel.
The threat posed by ballistic weapons was also being countered, the Ukrainian Air Force said, without providing details of any damage caused by the three missiles that were not intercepted.
Russian aerial assets were downed over a host of Ukrainian regions including Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv and Kherson.
Russia claims two settlements in Kursk region recaptured
Russia says it has taken back two more villages – Nikolayevo-Darino and Darino – from Ukrainian forces who seized control of part of the western Russian region of Kursk last month.
The claim came in a report by a senior Russian commander, Major General Apti Alaudinov, and there has been no response yet from Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces, which provides daily updates on frontline developments.
However, Russian advances in Kursk were seen in the past 24 hours, according to a US-based think tank.
“Russian forces recently recaptured territory in the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast amid continued Russian counterattacks in the area on 18 September. Geolocated footage published on 17 and 18 September indicates that Russian forces recently advanced eastward along two forested areas southeast of Korenevo and south of Obukhovka (southeast of Korenevo),” said the Institute for the Study of War.
Indian ammunition reaches Ukraine despite Moscow’s protests
Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, officials said.
At least 11 Indian and European government and defence industry officials, as well as a Reuters analysis of commercially available customs data, confirmed the trade of weapons, Reuters reported.
The transfer of munitions to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the sources and the customs data. Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared purchaser, who risks future sales being terminated if unauthorised transfers occur.
The Kremlin has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart, three Indian officials said.
The foreign and defence ministries of Russia and India did not respond to questions. In January, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine.
One killed, two wounded in Zaporizhzhia
One elderly woman was killed and two other women were wounded by Russian strikes in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, governor Ivan Fedorov said today.
Russian forces shelled the region 161 times over the past 24 hours, damaging infrastructure facilities and residential buildings, he said on Telegram.
Russian anger boils up after ammo depot attack: 'What are you doing????'
Russians lashed out against their own authorities online on Wednesday after the town of Toropets was hit in a Ukrainian drone attack yesterday, blowing up a critical ammunition depot.
“Why wasn’t the ammunition underground?! What are you doing???? In Kudino, houses were blown away! Why is the forest burning and no one is there... What kind of negligence is this!!!!” one woman posted on a Toropets chatroom on the social media sit VK.
Some war bloggers asked how drones could trigger such large blasts at what was thought to be a highly fortified facility.
“Russian milbloggers largely criticised Russian authorities for poorly constructing the facility and accused Russian forces of possibly mishandling missiles and artillery ammunition stockpiles at the facility,” the Institute for the Study of War said.
Messages of support from other parts of the country and offers of help to people fleeing the town were also there.
Some people were asking whether buildings at specific addresses were still standing. “People, does anyone know what’s happened to Kudino village??? They told me nothing is left of our house,” posted one woman.
Another woman replied: “It’s horror there.” Kudino is a village 4.5km (2.8 miles) northeast of Toropets.
Kamala Harris, Donald Trump to meet Volodymyr Zelensky next week
US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris plans to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington next week, a person familiar with the matter said.
Donald Trump has also said he will “probably” meet Volodymyr Zelensky, who will be in the US next week to address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia’s war in his country.
“Probably, yes,” Mr Trump said in response to a question from a reporter about whether he will meet the Ukrainian leader. Trump did not provide further details.
In recent months, some other world leaders who have visited the US for summits and meetings with president Biden have ended up meeting with Trump as well. Trump faces Democratic vice president Kamala Harris in the 5 November election.
Mr Zelensky said in August he wanted to present a peace plan to Mr Biden, Ms Harris and Mr Trump. While Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky talked over the phone in July, they have not talked in person since the Republican leader’s 2017-2021 term.
Zelensky says ‘victory plan’ is ready
Volodymyr Zelensky says his “victory plan”, intended to bring peace to Ukraine while keeping the country strong and avoiding all “frozen conflicts”, was now complete after much consultation.
“Today, it can be said that our victory plan is fully prepared. All the points, all key focus areas and all necessary detailed additions of the plan have been defined,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
“The most important thing is the determination to implement it.
There was, he said, no alternative to peace, “no freezing of the war or any other manipulations that would simply postpone Russian aggression to another stage”.
Mr Zelensky pledged last month to present his plan to Joe Biden, presumably next week when he attends sessions of the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
While providing daily updates on the plan’s preparation, he has given few clues of the contents, indicating only that it aims to create terms acceptable to Ukraine, now locked in conflict with Russia for more than two and a half years.
Released Russian dissident Kara-Murza visits US Congress
Russian activist Vladimir Kara-Murza shook his head in disbelief as he addressed politicians and diplomats in a US Senate hearing room on Tuesday, just weeks after he was released from prison in Siberia in a major prisoner swap.
“The word surreal doesn’t even come close to describing what I feel now,” the dissident said at an event intended to highlight what participants described as the plight of hundreds of prisoners still detained in Russia for their political beliefs.
Coinciding with Kara-Murza’s visit, Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will introduce this week the Bridge Act, legislation intended to protect Russians and Belarusians working to support democracy in their home countries.
Ukraine ‘used 100 domestically produced drones’ in Tver arms depot attack
More than 100 domestically produced exploding drones were deployed in the attack on the Russian arms depot in Tver, a Ukrainian intelligence official told the Associated Press.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti earlier quoted regional authorities as saying air defence systems were working to repel a “massive drone attack” on Toropets.
North Korean ammo ‘destroyed’ in Tver arms depot strike
Among the ammunition destroyed in the attack on the Tver arms depot were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, a Ukrainian intelligence source has told the Associated Press.
Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact in June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang.
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