The Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Army confirmed: Ukraine hit two ammunition depots in Ilovaisk (Donetsk Oblast) and Brylivka belonging to Russia in the early hours of Friday morning. At around 2 a.m. local time, a massive fire was reported in Ilovaisk – a major regional railway junction, with explosions audible some time after. Images shared on social media show huge flames erupting and thick, dark plumes of smoke filling the Ukrainian night sky.
Twitter user “Chuck Pfarrer” (@ChuckPfarrer), whose profile describes him as a “former SEAL Team Six Squadron Leader,” retweeted a video of the fire at the Russian ammunition depot.
He wrote next to it: “NO WHERE TO HIDE – Ukrainian precision assault artillery has attacked a RU ammunition depot in Ilovaisk, 40 km behind the leading edge of the battle zone in Donetsk Oblast.
“UKR partisans probably designated this target and HIMARS took it out. Watch out for the secondary explosions.’
Ukrainian journalist Denis Kazansky said the resulting explosions were so powerful “that windows in nearby buildings were shattered”.
He added: “Eyewitnesses report scattered grenade particles on the street. The fire continues. The route from the city is closed.”
Ilovaisk town in Khartsyzk Municipality, Donetsk Oblast, where the Russians are located.
It was also the site of a battle in the 2014 conflict.
Before hitting the Ilovaisk facility, Ukrainian armed forces hit another Russian ammunition depot in Brylivka – home to another important railway junction under Russian occupation.
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Brylivka is located about 50 kilometers southeast of the city of Kherson and 30 kilometers north of the Black Sea coast.
The latest strikes come with British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace claiming that Russian forces are “effectively paralyzed” as Putin pushes for a “meat grinder” war strategy.
He told BBC’s Today programme: “Putin has not changed his desire to occupy all of Ukraine, taking Kiev and Odessa, but his army has been effectively crippled by massive amounts of casualties. More than 25,000 killed. Perhaps twice as many wounded.
“When I talk about meat grinders, what they do is they resort to a kind of Soviet tactic… moving very slowly – meters, not miles, per day, in some parts.
“And on top of the meat grinder, they recruit from the poorest districts of Russia and the ethnic minorities, and they use mercenaries, push these people in, with very little regard for the outcome, and grind forward.”
The defense minister added that Western weapons with longer ranges “are now having a material effect”, and that the Russians are “fighting their army by about 40 to 50 percent effectively”.