Ukraine-Russia war latest: Blow to Putin’s forces as Kyiv destroys weapons store with North Korean missiles

Ukraine’s military says it has struck a Russian weapons depot which was holding North Korean missiles more than 60 miles from the border.

The military said the arsenal, in Karachev, Bryansk Oblast, stored ammunition for missile and artillery weapons, including those delivered from North Korea, as well as guided aerial bombs.

Footage emerged overnight of the aftermath of the attack, showing flames burning in the area as the munitions dump exploded.

A state of emergency was declared in a district of western Bryansk following the detonation, state media site Tass reported. Local residents said air raid alerts started sounding around 2am local time.

Bryansk head Aleksander Bogomaz said emergency services were working at sites where debris fell, without saying if there was damage.

The Russian ministry of defence later claimed that they had shot down 47 Ukrainian drones fired across the border overnight. They said 24 were shot down over the Bryansk region.

They said the rest of the drones were destroyed over the regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Rostov and Krasnodar, as well as the waters of the Sea of Azov.

A Russian court has found Trevor Reed, a former US Marine who was freed by Russia in a 2022 prisoner swap, guilty in absentia of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine and handed him a prison sentence of 14-1/2 years.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said Reed had joined Ukraine‘s army in July 2023 and “directly participated on the side of the Ukrainian security forces in combat operations” against Russian troops in Ukraine.

It said it had placed Reed on the international wanted list.

Reed could not immediately be reached for comment. The US State Department said last July that he had been injured