Russian Town Hit by ‘Multiple Drones,’ Loud Explosions Reported
Ukraine carried out an attack that hit an ammunition depot in southern Russia, according to reports with images on social media purportedly showing its fiery aftermath.
“The town of Ostrogozhsk in the Voronezh region of Russia was attacked by multiple drones,” posted the X (formerly Twitter) account War is Translated on Saturday, next to videos that purportedly show flames at the site around 400 miles south of Moscow.
“The impact must be extremely intense as explosions and fires in Ostrogozhsk have not stopped since early morning,” added the post.
“Ukrainian drones paid a visit to weapons storage in Russia’s Voronezh region last night,” posted the pro-Ukrainian X account Jay in Kyiv.
Screen grab via social media
However, there appears to be uncertainty about what munitions were involved with local outlets reporting Ukraine had used a Neptune cruise missile in the strike which reportedly caused numerous secondary explosions. Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment.
The Voronezh Oblast, bordering Ukraine’s Luhansk region, is the site of military airfields, oil refineries, and ammunition depots used by Moscow which have been previously targeted by Kyiv.
Last night, the town of Ostrogozhsk in the Voronezh region of Russia was attacked by multiple drones. According to local authorities, as a result of the “falling debris” from the drones, an ammunition depot in the city of Ostrogozhsk detonated.
The impact must be extremely… pic.twitter.com/Gz8anTdFoU
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) August 24, 2024
Ukrainian forces reportedly carried out a successful cruise missile attack into Russia this evening.
Local outlets report that a Ukrainian Neptune cruise missile hit a Russian ammunition dump in Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh Oblast with secondary explosions and fire seen nearby. pic.twitter.com/7gOdGIqCQM
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 23, 2024
Voronezh regional governor Aleksandr Gusev said Saturday that Russian air defense had destroyed several drones and that falling weapons fragments had caused a fire and “detonation of explosive objects” at an unnamed site. He said two people were injured and 200 people were evacuated from their homes.
On July 7, Gusev had described a similar strike on an ammunition depot in the region in similar terms in which he said there were detonations of unidentified objects without specifying the facility that was hit.
The Russian Telegram channel Astra reported on Saturday that ammunition at the site in Ostrogozhsk was continuing to explode eight hours after the attack.
“The detonation continues, so I once again ask you to remain calm, be extremely careful and comply with all security requirements,” it said, citing the head of the Ostrogozhsky district, Sergei Khoroshilov.
It comes as Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Russian military infrastructure and energy industry with the aim of choking Moscow’s military machine.
On Friday, Ukraine’s navy confirmed it was behind a strike the previous day on the Conro Trader cargo ship in Kavkaz port in Russia’s Krasnodar territory, with video on social media showing flames and smoke billowing into the sky.
Meanwhile, a strike on an oil terminal in the city of Proletarsk, Rostov region, has sparked a fire that continues to burn with reports that it was spreading to residential buildings amid criticism from locals that the authorities were not doing enough to tackle the fire.
