Satellite imagery captured Thursday shows significant damage in one of the biggest Russian ammunition deposits after caught fire and exploded earlier in the week.
An image taken by Planet Labs and obtained by Business Insider reveals a significant destruction in the 51st direction of missiles and main artillery (Grau) Arsenal, a complex of ammunition located northeast of Moscow in the Vladimir region, more than 300 miles from the border with Ukraine. It is a huge installation.
The aerial image shows what seems to be destroyed buildings and the earth burned, in accordance with the fires caused by the initial and following explosions that the witnesses filmed on Tuesday. The complete extent of damage to the 51st grau is not clear, but it seems that a large part of the installation has been affected.
The 51st grau on April 20. Planet Labs
This image of April 24 of the 51st direction of missiles and main artillery of Russia (GRAU) Arsenal shows significant damage on the site. Planet Labs
The Russian Defense Ministry did not identify the installation by name in its declaration, but said that a fire on an anonymous military site in the Vladimir region has exploded ammunition in a warehouse. Several people were reportedly injured the next day.
The Russian state media declared that an emergency state had been declared in the specific district where the 51st grau is located.
In a statement published on Telegram, the Russian ministry wrote: “The cause of the fire is a violation of security requirements when working with explosive documents.” He said the incident would be inquiry.
In the aftermath of the explosion, videos began to emerge on social networks from what would be Russian ammunition that rain on neighboring civil areas.
The Ukraine Strategic Communication Center described the installation of ammunition as one of the largest ammunition in Russia. Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the kyiv disinformation center, said the site contains some 100,000 tonnes of weapons, including artillery and missile shells. BI could not independently check these details.
Russia has a history of accidents like that of the 51st grau. Four people were killed in June 2022 in this installation when ammunition exploded during unloading operations. And another Russian ammunition deposit exploded twice in 2019.
In the midst of the current war, Russia’s ammunition deposits were also high -value objectives for Ukraine, which used missiles and drones produced in the country to carry out a very successful deep campaign against the military and energy facilities of its neighbor.
The Ukrainian forces have attacked several deposits of Russian ammunition in the fall, demonstrating their long range and the apparent ineffectiveness of Moscow aerial defenses.
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