This is the moment Russia claims to have struck a Ukrainian weapons depot filled with Western-supplies munitions.
Footage shared on social media shows the depot in Odesa consumed by a raging inferno, after Russia struck it with an Iskander-M missile.
Mini-explosions, presumed to be detonating munitions, can be heard going off as smoke fills the night sky over the port city.
The Colonel Cassad Telegram channel with 896,000 followers reported: ‘There is a fire in Bugayevskaya [street] in Odesa after a strike.
‘Judging by the footage, ammunition depots are burning, secondary detonation is heard…..
‘Cartridges are flying in different directions.’
This is the moment Russia claims to have struck a Ukrainian weapons depot filled with Western-supplies munitions
Missiles, part of Iskander-M missile complex, are seen during a demonstration at the International military-technical forum ARMY-2019 at Alabino range in Moscow Region, Russia June 25, 2019
Major Ukrainian news outlet Unian said ‘the cause of fire is unknown’.
The warehouse complex was near a key rail line. No details were given in initial reports about the type of ammunition allegedly in the warehouses.
It comes as Putin said on Sunday that Russia’s defence ministry was working on different ways to respond if the United States and its NATO allies help Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with long-range Western missiles.
The invasion has triggered the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the depths of the Cold War, and Russian officials say the war is now entering its most dangerous phase.
Russia has been signalling to the United States and its allies for weeks that if they give permission to Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, then Moscow will consider it a major escalation.
Footage shared on social media shows the depot in Odesa consumed by a raging inferno, after Russia struck it with an Iskander-M missile
Mini-explosions, presumed to be detonating munitions, can be heard going off as smoke fills the night sky over the port city
Major Ukrainian news outlet Unian said ‘the cause of fire is unknown’
Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean ‘the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine’ because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
Putin said that it was too early to say exactly how Russia would react to such a move but that Moscow would have to respond accordingly and different options were being examined.
‘(The Russian defence ministry) is thinking about how to respond to the possible long-range strikes on Russian territory, it will offer a range of responses,’ Putin told Russian state TV’s top Kremlin reporter, Pavel Zarubin.
With Russia advancing at the fastest rate in eastern Ukraine since the first months of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with the West to allow Kyiv to fire deep into Russia with Western missiles.
The United States has not said publicly if it will allow Ukraine to strike Russia, but some U.S. officials are deeply sceptical that doing so would make a significant difference in the war.
Ukrainian forces already strike deep into Russia on a regular basis with long-range drones.
Putin, who ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, casts the war as a battle between Russia and the declining West, which he says ignored Russia’s interests after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Russian soldiers load an Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile launchers at a firing position as part of Russian military drill intended to train the troops in using tactical nuclear weapons
Russian troops load an Iskander missile as part of drills to train the military for using tactical nuclear weapons at an undisclosed location in Russia
Ukraine and its Western allies say Putin unleashed an imperial-style war against its smaller neighbour and have repeatedly said that if Russia wins the war then autocratic countries across the world will be emboldened.
Just weeks before the U.S. presidential election, Putin changed Russia’s nuclear doctrine
in what the Kremlin said was an attempt to signal Russia’s concern over Western discussions about missile strikes from Ukraine.
Asked if the West had heard Russia’s warnings, Putin told Zarubin: ‘I hope they have heard. Because, of course, we will have to make some decisions for ourselves, too.’
Putin said that only NATO officers would be able to fire such weapons into Russia and that they would need to use Western satellite data for targeting the weapons so the question is really ‘whether they will allow themselves to strike deep into Russian territory or not. That is the question.’
U.S. officials say the United States is not seeking to escalate the conflict.
How a new U.S. president will approach the war is unclear: former U.S. president Donald Trump has said he will end the Ukraine war while Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris says she will continue to support Ukraine.