Drone attack triggers huge blast at Russian arsenal; Europe ‘must prepare to meet Moscow militarily in 6-8 years’

The European Union must be quick to increase its defences as Russia may be ready for a confrontation in six to eight years, the nominee to be the EU’s first defence commissioner told Reuters in an interview.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would on Tuesday, 24 September address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia’s war in his country, said Slovenia’s UN mission — president of the 15-member body for September.

Ukrainian drone attack triggers massive blast at Russian arsenal

A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack on Russia triggered an earthquake-sized blast at a major arsenal in the Tver region on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of a nearby town, reported war bloggers and some media.

Unverified video and images on social media showed a huge ball of flame blasting into the night sky and multiple detonations thundering across a lake about 380km west of Moscow.

Nasa satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 sq km at the site in the early hours and earthquake monitoring stations noted what sensors thought was a small earthquake in the area.

“The enemy hit an ammunition depot in the area of Toropets,” said Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger. “Everything that can burn is already burning there (and exploding).”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in his nightly video address, hailed the outcome of the attack without referring specifically to the target.

“A very important result was achieved last night on Russian territory and such actions weaken the enemy,” said Zelensky. “I thank everyone involved. Such precision is truly inspiring.”

A source in Ukraine’s SBU state security service said the drone attack had destroyed a warehouse storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition.

Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal of conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. State media, now subject to military censorship laws, was muted in its reporting on Wednesday.

Igor Rudenya, governor of the Tver region, said that Ukrainian drones had been shot down, that a fire had broken out and that some residents were being evacuated. He did not say what was burning.

The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tonnes of high explosives detonating, said George William Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.

Russia reported that its air defence units had destroyed 54 drones launched against five Russian regions overnight, without mentioning Tver. Ukraine said it had shot down 46 of 52 drones launched by Moscow overnight and that Russia had used three guided air missiles which did not reach their targets.

Europe ‘must prepare to meet Russia militarily in 6-8 years’

The European Union must be quick to increase its defences as Russia may be ready for a confrontation in six to eight years, the nominee to be the EU’s first defence commissioner told Reuters in an interview.

Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania, Russia’s neighbour, has been tapped to boost the continent’s arms industry, by getting EU countries to spend more on European weapons and procure jointly — as well as by getting companies themselves to cooperate more across borders.

The new post reflects how security has risen to the top of the EU’s political agenda since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“Defence ministers and Nato generals agree that Vladimir Putin could be ready for confrontation with Nato and the EU in six to eight years,” said Kubilius, a fierce critic of Russia and a supporter of Ukraine,  on Wednesday.

Kubilius said his first job as a commissioner would be to explore, jointly with EU top diplomat nominee Kaja Kallas, what resources the European Union needed to be ready for a military challenge. He is aiming to complete an exploratory study within the first 100 days.

He said underinvestment of more than €1-trillion in the decade since the financial crisis meant the European defence industry was in an “unsatisfactory condition”.

Zelensky to address UN Security Council next Tuesday

Zelensky would on Tuesday, 24 September, address a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Russia’s war in his country, said Slovenia’s UN mission — president of the 15-member body for September.

The meeting will be held while world leaders are in New York for their annual gathering at the UN General Assembly.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It was overwhelmingly denounced by the 193-member General Assembly, which also demanded Moscow withdraw its troops, but the Security Council has been deadlocked as Russia can veto any action.

Zelensky is travelling to the US with a “victory plan” that he wants to present to President Joe Biden.

His trip comes at a critical juncture in the war, with Russian troops continuing to inch forward in eastern Ukraine despite Kyiv’s forces launching a surprise incursion last month into Russia’s Kursk region.

The UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday was requested by the US, Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and Malta, said diplomats.

Britain summons Russian ambassador after diplomats expelled

The British government said on Wednesday it had summoned the Russian ambassador following what it described as an “unprecedented and unfounded public campaign of aggression” by Russia, including accusations against Foreign Office staff.

Russia’s FSB security service said last week it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow after accusing them of spying and sabotage work, accusations Britain described as “malicious and completely baseless”.

“This pattern of behaviour is completely unacceptable, deeply unprofessional, and beneath the standards of conduct between states,” said a spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office, calling on Russia to “stop this activity immediately”.

“This is the latest development in a deliberate campaign by Russia to undermine and threaten UK security and democracy and deter our support for Ukraine, through disinformation, acts of sabotage in Europe and direct harassment and restrictions against our diplomatic missions in Russia,” they added.

Ukraine amends 2024 budget to channel more funds for defence

Ukraine’s parliament amended the 2024 budget on Wednesday, raising defence spending by an additional 500 billion hryvnias ($12-billion) as the war with Russia rages on after nearly 31 months.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a legislator from the Holos party, said total budget spending for this year had been increased to a record 3.73 trillion hryvnias ($90-billion).

“This will allow not only better support for our military but will also strengthen the country’s defence capabilities,” said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov after the vote.

With Ukrainian troops defending more than 1,000km of front lines, demand for ammunition and weapons is growing and more money is required.

Ukraine has also increased the pace of mobilisation and needs more funds to pay service personnel, with no sign of the war ending.

Umerov said 274.4 billion hryvnias would go to soldiers’ wages and other payments to families of the military. Another 76.2 billion would go on equipment to modernise the army, he said.

Ukraine spends most of its state revenues on funding the national defence effort, and relies on financial aid from its Western partners to be able to fund pensions, public sector wages and other social spending.

Roksolana Pidlasa, the head of a parliament’s budget committee, said each day’s fighting cost Kyiv about $140-million. She did not break down the costs.

To raise additional funds for the army for the rest of the year, the government plans to increase taxes and will borrow more from the domestic debt market, the finance ministry said.

Kyiv has also agreed on a deal to restructure more than $20-billion of international debt, saving about $11.4-billion over the next three years.

Kremlin slams Stoltenberg’s comments on missile strikes  

The Kremlin on Wednesday described as “dangerous” comments by Jens Stoltenberg, the outgoing head of Nato, that a decision by the West to allow Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons to strike Russia would not be a red line that would prompt an escalation by Moscow.

Zelensky has been pleading with allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles including long-range US Atacms and British Storm Shadows into Russia to limit Moscow’s ability to launch attacks.

In an interview with The Times published on Tuesday, Stoltenberg dismissed a warning by Russian president Vladimir Putin last week that letting Ukraine use such weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory would mean the West was directly fighting Russia.

“There have been many red lines declared by him before, and he has not escalated, meaning also involving Nato allies directly in the conflict,” said Stoltenberg, whose tenure as head of the military alliance ends in October.

“He has not done so, because he realises that Nato is the strongest military alliance in the world. They also realise that nuclear weapons, nuclear war, cannot be won and should not be fought. And we have made that very clear to him several times.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Stoltenberg’s remarks were dangerous.

“This ostentatious desire not to take seriously the Russian president’s statements is a move that is completely short-sighted and unprofessional,” said Peskov.

Stoltenberg’s position was “extremely provocative and dangerous”, added Peskov. DM