Explosions in Voronezh: Ukrainian drone attack sparks ammunition warehouse blaze, emergency declared
A warehouse stocked with ammunition detonated following a drone attack in Russia’s Voronezh region, prompting local authorities to declare a state of emergency and evacuate residents near the fire's epicenter. The announcement was made by Voronezh Governor Alexander Gusev via his Telegram channel. The news outlet published footage from the scene of the blaze.
"Air defense and electronic warfare forces detected and neutralized a drone in the Ostrogozhsky District. Preliminary reports indicate no casualties. However, the drone's crash caused a fire that spread to explosive materials, triggering detonation. Residents of one village are being temporarily relocated to a neighboring settlement. Emergency services and local administration representatives are already on the ground," Gusev stated.
He further explained that an emergency regime has been declared in the Ostrogozhsky District, and several dozen people have been temporarily moved to a nearby village. Local residents say the blast occurred at an ammunition warehouse in the village of Soldatskoye, despite the Russian Ministry of Defense's efforts to downplay the attack.
An ammunition depot in Russia's Voronezh Oblast, targeted by Ukrainian drones on September 7, housed North Korean missiles, said Andrey Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation. "An attack was launched on the ammunition depot in Soldatskoye, Voronezh Oblast, resulting in the destruction of the Korean missiles that Putin practically begged from Kim Jong Un," said Kovalenko. He also indicated that Iran-produced missiles would meet the same fate.
Russian military correspondent Alexey Zhivov sharply criticized the government’s inability to admit that a Ukrainian drone had hit a Russian military ammunition storage facility. Zhivov disparaged the failure to maintain proper defenses and berated authorities for continually stockpiling ammunition in vulnerable open fields.
Zhivov noted, “This is the second accumulation of ‘explosive items’ to be hit by drones in Voronezh in a month. Last time, the 'explosive items' detonated for three days straight,” reflecting a growing alarm over the security of such sites and demanding accountability from military officials responsible for these stockpiles.
In an impassioned plea for action, Zhivov called the current state of defense oversights a clear "undermining of the country's defense capabilities."