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107th Arsenal GRAU, Toropets - 18 September 2024 Attack

Ukrainian News Agency reported, on the night of September 18, Ukraine attacked one of the largest warehouses of the Russian army in the area of the town of Toropets, Tver Oblast. Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak noted in a commentary for RBC-Ukraine: "Very effective, spectacular, but not enough." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, without directly mentioning Toropets, announced a "very important result" achieved on Russian territory. Days later,The Sun reported "Ukraine deployed a record 100-strong 'flock' of kamikaze drones to attack the bunker complex in Toropets."

As a result of the attack, there was a large-scale detonation of ammunition, which caused a series of earthquakes. The strength of the biggest tremor was 2.8 points. NASA satellites recorded thermal indicators on almost the entire territory of the 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate [GRAU] of the Ministry of Defense of the russian federation, where the fire occurred. Smoke from a large-scale fire, which arose as a result of the detonation of ammunition at the 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate in the Tver Oblast, is visible from space. This was reported 18 September 2024 by the OSINT analyst OSINTtechnical in the social network X (formerly Twitter). "A huge plume of smoke from the 107th Main Missile and Artillery Directorate’s arsenal in Toropets, which exploded, is visible from space," the OSINT analyst wrote.

Satellite images of the aftermath of a drone attack on a military warehouse near the city of Toropets in the Tver region were posted by American journalist Christopher Miller on his X account. The images show the scale of the destruction, with many buildings engulfed in flames and smoke filling the air. The explosions damaged residential buildings, even those located at a considerable distance from the warehouse - the blast wave knocked out glass and damaged facades.

The destroyed warehouse could have cost around 3.6 billion rubles. This is the amount that Rossiyskaya Gazeta cited in 2015, when the arsenal was just beginning to be built.

The fall of debris from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) caused a fire in the city of Toropets in the Tver Region. This was reported by the Tver Governor Igor Rudenya. "As a result of the fall of the UAV debris during the repulse of the attack by the air defense forces, a fire started, all emergency services and the leadership of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation for the Tver Region went to the scene," the governor was quoted as saying in a statement from the regional government's press service.

It was noted that work was underway at the site to localize the fire. At the same time, air defense forces continued to repel a massive UAV attack in Toropets. According to the governor's decision, a partial evacuation of the population will be carried out from the territory where air defense forces are operating and firefighting is underway, the regional government reported on its Telegram channel. According to the administration of the Toropetsky municipal district, the evacuation was carried out to the city of Zapadnaya Dvina. In total, about 3,000 people were reportedly evacuated.

According to the Russian Ministry of Health, 13 people were hospitalized after the UAV attack on the Tver Region. According to the Mash Telegram channel, 17 people were injured in the attack, three of them children. According to BAZA , 20 people received shrapnel wounds. There are no serious casualties or deaths in the attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the city of Toropets in the Tver Region. This was reported by Governor Igor Rudenya, whose words were quoted by the press service of the regional government. "The most important thing is that our citizens were not seriously injured, there were no fatalities," Rudenya said.

In the Tver region, 13 churches were damaged as a result of an attack by a Ukrainian Armed Forces UAV on Toropets Tverskoy, the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate reported. "Bishop Adrian of Rzhev and Toropetsk, in a report addressed to His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', notes that the shock wave damaged city buildings and residential premises, including 13 churches, in which windows and doors were knocked out. The interior decoration of churches was also damaged," the statement said.

Stefan Korshak, writing September 19, 2024, in the Kyisv Post, termed the attafk "the most damaging long-range attack launched by Kyiv in 30 months of combat, and possibly the most devastating air strike ever to hit Russia, World War II included.... Some local social media reported the village Tsikarevo, less than 300 meters from Toropets’ northeastern security fence, was completely destroyed. The local television news platform RBC-TV reported fires had surrounded and consumed several villages and towns, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes."

Tendar reported 20 September 2024: The newly built portion of the base:

• All 23 buildings have been destroyed
• Out of 42 storage bunker at least 15 have been destroyed, 10 more cannot be assessed but are most likely destroyed, due to their proximity to the major bomb crater
• the remaining 17 bunkers show various signs of damages but it is hard to assess the impact of it
• 5 major bombs craters can be seen (yellow) Damage rate approximately: over 80%

Given that the damage by excessive heat and kinetic damage caused by shockwaves and shrapnel lead to material deterioration beyond usage, especially missiles and other complex weapon systems, I would call this virtually a total loss of all material on the base, where at best only 10%-20% can be salvaged.