Ukrainian forces launched an overnight drone strike on a Russian storage depot that housed large amounts of missiles and ammunition.
It appears to be one of the most successful Ukrainian strikes ever on a Russian munition site. The storage facility is located deep inside Russia, some 300 miles from Ukraine's border.
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An unnamed official with Ukraine's security service said military intelligence and special forces carried out the strike using more than 100 drones — ones that were made in Ukraine and not provided by Western allies. Officials said some of the munitions destroyed in the strike included Russian tactical missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and glide bombs.
Russia's health ministry reported that at least 13 people were injured and the area has been evacuated. But Russian officials aren't confirming what happened overnight. NASA's satellite system showed a massive explosion at the site that encompassed an area nearly four miles wide.
Striking targets like this is exactly what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been begging the U.S. and other allies to allow them to do with long-range western-provided weapons. It's also been reported that Ukrainian officials have shown the Biden administration a list of such targets deep inside Russia that Ukraine is seeking to target.
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Zelenskyy says it's critical that Ukraine be allowed to try and destroy depots of Russian weapons that are killing Ukrainians and decimating the country's electrical infrastructure. Putin, meanwhile, indicated that he has no plans to back down as Russia's military will reportedly increased by 180,000 troops by this December.
