Payback Day: Ukraine Troops Hit Russian Weapons Depot

Ukraine hails ‘payback’ as blasts rock Putin ammunition depot on Russian soil in suspected missile strike by Zelensky’s forces

Ukraine has hailed a suspected missile strike on Russian soil this morning as ‘payback’ and ‘karma’ for Putin’s vicious attacks on its civilians.

An ammunition depot caught fire in Belgorod, sending flames and smoke rising into the skies over Staraya Nelidovka in the early hours of the morning, as anti-air defences in border regions opened fire in what is suspected to be more attacks by Ukraine.

Air defences were active over neighbouring Kursk and Voronezh regions as Russia said it had shot down Ukrainian drones that entered its territory.

Without directly admitting responsibility, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said it was ‘karma’ for Russia and said they deserved to learn about ‘demilitarisation’ in a pointed swipe at Putin’s supposed war aims.

‘If you decide to massively attack another country, massively kill everyone there, massively crush peaceful people with tanks, and use warehouses in your regions to enable the killings, then sooner or later the debts will have to be repaid,’ Podolyak said. 

He added: ‘Therefore, the disarmament of the Belgorod and Voronezh killers’ warehouses is an absolutely natural process. Karma is a cruel thing.’

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said on Telegram: ‘At approximately 3.35am I woke up from a loud bang that sounded like a blast. 

‘As I was writing this post, three more blasts were heard. According to preliminary information, an ammunition depot is on fire near the village of Staraya Nelidovka.’

No civilian casualties were reported.

Meanwhile residents of Voronezh, which is more than 100 miles from the Ukraine border, reported two explosions to the south-west of the city overnight.

Video taken in the dawn hours showed what appeared to be the white exhaust trail of an air defence missile crossing the sky, with an impact cloud hanging in the air.

RIA Novosti, Russia’s main state news wire, later claimed that a reconnaissance drone had been shot down.

Explosions were also heard near the city of Kursk, around 60 miles from the border, with video seeming to show flames glowing against a darkened sky.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that more drones had been shot down over the town of Oboyan, to the south of Kursk city.

‘There are no casualties or destruction,’ Kursk governor Roman Starovoyt said.

The strikes come off the back of a series of explosions within Russia targeting military bases and infrastructure that are widely thought to be coming from Kyiv.

Belgorod has been the most heavily targeted, with missile strikes and a helicopter raid targeting fuel and ammunition dumps.

A railway bridge was also targeted in the same region in what is widely suspected to have been a sabotage attack by Ukrainian special forces. 

Belgorod is a key staging point for Russian forces heading to join the fight in Ukraine’s Donbas region, where a major offensive to seize the eastern part of Ukraine is currently underway.

The frequency of the attacks has caused fury within Russia, with the Kremlin threatening to step up attacks on ‘decision-making centres’ in Kyiv in retaliation – a thinly-veiled threat to target government and military headquarters.