KYIV (Dispatches) -  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.
Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed Russian military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) 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 media.
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 kilometers (4 miles) wide.
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 defense 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.
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 balked at that possibility, fearing they could be dragged into the conflict.
Ukraine’s targeting of Russian military equipment, ammunition and infrastructure deep inside Russia, as well as making Russian civilians feel some of the consequences of the war that is being fought largely inside Ukraine, is part of Kyiv’s strategy.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin 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.
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, Reuters reported.
“He has not done so, because he realizes that NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world. They also realize 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 spokesman 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 is “extremely provocative and dangerous,” Peskov added.
A senior NATO military official said over the weekend that Ukraine would have good military reason to strike deeper into Russia using Western weapons. Keiv’s allies, including the United States and Britain, are currently discussing whether to give Kiev a green light to do so.
Senior Russian politicians and foreign policy hawks have suggested that Moscow could respond with nuclear weapons. The head of Russia’s nuclear testing site said on Tuesday that his facility was ready to resume testing “at any moment.” Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
On Tuesday, Putin ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000 to a total of 1.5 million by Dec. 1.
Zelensky last month said his plan for victory includes not only battlefield goals but also diplomatic and economic wins.