Russia’s Tver region orders evacuation after Ukrainian drone attack

A partial evacuation has been ordered in Russia’s Tver region after a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack sparked fires there, the local governor said.

Igor Rudenya said emergency services in the town of Toropets were trying to “locate” the fire caused by debris from the falling drone. He did not say whether there were any casualties.

Meanwhile, unverified footage has emerged showing a massive explosion in the town. The footage, which has been circulating on social media, shows the sound of the explosion and smoke billowing over a large area of ​​the sky.

AFP and Reuters news agencies quoted sources in Ukraine as saying that an ammunition depot had been attacked.

The head of Ukraine’s Countering Disinformation Center, Andriy Kovalenko, said on Telegram that in addition to its own ammunition such as Grad rockets and many other types of missiles, Russia has also begun storing North Korean missiles at Toropets.

None of these claims have been verified by the BBC.

Toropets is located about 380km (236 mi) northwest of the Russian capital Moscow and about 470km north of the border with Ukraine.

On Wednesday morning, Toropets authorities said buses were being prepared for evacuation.

They also declared the situation was “under control” in the town of about 13,000 residents.

Authorities did not say how many people had to be evacuated.

Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that schools and kindergartens in the region will be closed on Wednesday.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported it destroyed a total of 54 drones in overnight strikes in five Russian regions – Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Smolensk and Belgorod.

Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said four civilians were injured in a “drone attack on a minibus” in the city of Shebekino.

Ukraine has not commented on the reported attacks.

The head of the Kyiv city military administration, Serhiy Popko, said that last night, Ukrainian air defense forces had to engage with Russian drones approaching the capital Kyiv.

There were also reports of explosions in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, near the Russian border, and regional authorities later shot down 16 drones. However, authorities were forced to use backup power systems after the energy infrastructure came under repeated attack.

In total, the Ukrainian air force said it had shot down 46 of the 52 drones launched by Moscow over the country overnight. Local authorities said one person was killed in the central Kirovohrad region, while a 90-year-old woman was injured in Kropyvnytskyi.

The claims by both Russian and Ukrainian officials have not been independently verified.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.