Ukrainian drones struck a large military depot in a town deep inside Russia overnight, causing a huge blaze and prompting the evacuation of some local residents, a Ukrainian official and Russian news reports said Wednesday.

A senior US diplomat said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said he has a plan for winning the war that “can work” and help end the conflict, which is now in its third year. But the Ukrainian leader hasn’t publicly spelled out the plan.

Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region about 380 km northwest of Moscow and about 500 km from the border with Ukraine.

The attack was carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service, along with Ukraine’s Intelligence and Special Operations Forces, a Kyiv security official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the operation.

According to the official, the depot housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, as well as glide bombs and artillery shells. He said the facility caught fire in the strike and was burning across an area 6 km wide.

Among the destroyed ammunition were North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, another official in Ukraine’s Intelligence Office told The AP. He was not authorised to comment publicly and didn’t provide evidence to support his claim.

Russia and North Korea signed a landmark pact last June that envisioned mutual military assistance between Moscow and Pyongyang.

More than 100 domestically-produced kamikaze drones were deployed in the attack on the depot, the Ukrainian Intelligence Office official added.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted regional authorities as saying air defence systems were working to repel a “massive drone attack” on Toropets, which has a population of around 11,000. The agency also reported a fire and the evacuation of some local residents.

There was no immediate information about whether the strikes had caused any casualties. Successful Ukrainian strikes on targets deep inside Russia have become more common as the war has progressed and Kyiv developed its drone technology.

Zelensky is also seeking approval from western nations for Ukraine to use the sophisticated weapons they are providing to hit targets inside Russia. Some western leaders have baulked at that possibility, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict.

Ukraine’s targeting of Russian military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia.

AP/PTI