23rd GRAU Arsenal, Oktyabrskii
Toropets South Ammunition Depot
On 21 September 2024 an ammunition depot near Toropets in the Tver region caught fire due to a drone attack. As reported by Governor Igor Rudenya, UAVs were shot down in the southwest of the Tver Region by the Russian Defense Ministry. Emergency services specialists are working on the scene together with representatives of the regional administration. No casualties were reported. The federal highway M-9 "Baltia" was closed. "In connection with the incident" the railway station Staraya Toropa was evacuated, the press release of the October Railway said. There were approximately 750,000 shells there.
Toropets Ammunition Depot South [US Designation] is located 16 kilometers south of Toropets. As of 1964 the installation covers approximately 480 acres and included 4 administrative buildings, barracks, 6 quarters, 77 storage buildings, support buildings and a possible motor park. The installtion was covered by 9 KEYHOLE missions between February 1962 and October 1964. Comparative analysis revealed that the installation was occupied during this period. No significant changes were observed. A rail spur serves the secured storage area. Two trackside docks (length undetermiined) were observed.
By 2024 some storage sites at the 23rd GRAU Arsenal near Oktyabrskii lacked warehouses, while at many others, missiles were stockpiled next to storage buildings or at the loading bay. The open-air stockpiling of missiles suggests they were either awaiting transfer to active missile units or set aside for disposal and pending decommissioning.
The Russians had started using these warehouses as transit warehouses. This is prohibited. Reserve Colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, pilot instructor, and military expert Roman Svitan said in a daily military report on Channel 24 "Such warehouses cannot be used as transit warehouses. "In a transit warehouse, loading, unloading, and reloading occurs on the ground. They are very easy to blow up, and secondary detonation can also blow up underground warehouses. After the Russians began using underground strategic warehouses as transit warehouses, we caught them. Our intelligence detects the transportation of large quantities of cargo, which is why they are destroyed".
Intelschizo reported: "The importance of Ukraine taking out this depot will be felt immediately, particularly in Task Group North. The 23rd GRAU Arsenal like most Soviet and Russian Military Depots such as the 107th GRAU Arsenal targeted earlier in the week is directly connected to the Russian rail network. The 23rd GRAU Arsenal has munitions shipped by RZD West to Velikiye Luki then to Nevel then south into Belarus passing the Belarus Ammunition depot at 55.511101,29.937067 then continues to Vitebsk Belarus then crosses the border back into Russia going to Smolensk where it continues down to Bryansk then Lgov or Oryol then to Kursk then to Belgorod to Task Group North. Other munitions continue from Kursk to Start Oskol then to Valuyki into Occupied Ukraine or to Voronezh continuing South towards Rostov then back into occupied Ukraine.
This depot also highlighted the complicity and involvement of the Belarus government in Russia's aggression in Ukraine by continuing to allow Russian Railways freedom to ship military goods through their country before going to Russian Forces in Ukraine.... Using the math from @Mattl8241 in his Russian Logistics Thread this single depot if at full capacity with around 14,000 tons of munitions could supply Task Group North for about 10 days if I'm reading"
Zelenskyi's evening speech on 21 September 2024: "Today, it is again worth celebrating our soldiers for their marksmanship - marksmanship precisely on enemy territory. This is what fundamentally changes the situation - our ability to bring the war home, to Russia. There is another defeat of the arsenal in Russia, and it was a significant arsenal for the occupier. All our soldiers of the Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine who were involved - thank you! The Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and all those involved - well done!
"There is also good work by the SBU on another arsenal of Russian troops. These were warehouses of Russian tactical missiles and guided aerial bombs - all that Russia uses for terror against our cities, our positions. And I want to emphasize: we are doing this thanks to our capabilities, our weapons - without those means that can be provided by partners and which can significantly accelerate the end of this war thanks to the destruction of the Russian offensive potential."
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