719th GRAU Arsenal
Military Unit 01704 unit 57229-41
Kamenny, Tikhoretsk, Krasnodar Krai
Rostov Oblast - 45.88 40.04

Ukraine's SBU intelligence service hit the depot in Tikhoretsk in a joint operation with the Ukrainian military on 21 September 2024. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the attack on the Tikhoretsk arsenal and announced the destruction of more than 2,000 tons of ammunition, including from North Korea. In the message, the General Staff notes that this warehouse "is one of the three largest ammunition storage bases and is one of the key ones in the logistics system of the Russian troops." This warehouse is one of the three largest bases in Russia and is key in their logistics system. According to local authorities, 1,200 people are being evacuated from there. According to NASA FIRMS data, not only the ammunition depot was on fire but also a local airfield. There is no apparent relationship between the Tikhoretsk Munitions Storage Facility and the Tikhoretsk Airbase, which is a pilot training approximately 5 km to the east.

"According to available information, at the time of the strike, another train was on the territory of the arsenal, which delivered at least two thousand tons of ammunition, including from the DPRK. The Podlet radar station, which detected air targets in the direction of the arsenal, was also attacked," the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.

Rostov Oblast governor Veniamin Kondratiev stated "At night, the Tikhoretsk district was subjected to a terrorist attack by the Kiev regime. Two drones were suppressed by air defense and electronic warfare forces. The falling debris of one of them caused a fire that spread to explosive objects. Detonation began. Now, for safety reasons, the residents of the village located near the fire site are being temporarily evacuated to nearby settlements. A temporary accommodation point has been set up in Tikhoretsk. Fire brigades and special services are working at the scene. On my instructions, the head of the district, Anatoly Perepelin, is at the scene, reporting on the situation. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties among the residents of the district as a result of the emergency."

A fire was still burning the next day at an ammunition depot near the village of Kamenny in the Tikhoretsky District of Russia's Krasnodar Region. It can be seen in a picture from the Sentinel-2 satellite published by the investigative project "Schemes" of Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service. The photo also shows that the fire is continuing near the Tikhoretsk military airfield, which is located near the ammunition depot.

According to ASTRA analysis, there are two military units in the village: military unit 57229-41 (locals call it “white sheds”) and military unit 01704. It is known that the facility is protected by a multi-layered security fence with guard towers and covers about 2.6 square meters. The warehouse is also served by a railway line from a small railway station in Tikhoretsk, which is 3 kilometers to the north.

Satellite image taken on August 16, 2023 showed that the Tikhoretsk ammunition storage facility has two main functional areas: headquarters and storage. The headquarters area includes administrative and technical buildings, as well as vehicle maintenance facilities, a communications center, and open storage facilities. The warehouse area consists of four closed warehouses, 27 lined warehouses, two small reservoirs and open parks for storing equipment. An important component is the access line with the railway line, which allows for the efficient loading and unloading of ammunition and artillery systems.

Satellite imagery from December 20, 2023 revealed a significant increase in the number of new liner units for shipping containers at the Tikhoretsk Ammunition Storage Facility. The warehouse has about 280 new storage bins, of which about 50% were filled, which may indicate the possible storage of various classes of ammunition for numerous military units. The number of railway cars at the site had tripled and was now around 90. The number of transport containers, trailers and civilian vehicles, particularly trucks, approaching the site has also increased.

At the same time, data from 10 February 2024 showed a moderate decrease in the number of wagons to 80, together with the occupancy of new storage facilities, which amounted to approximately 35%. Despite this, activity on the warehouse territory continued to remain high.

In January 2024, OSINT analysts from Frontelligence Insight investigated the routes of transportation of shells from the DPRK. The base near Tikhoretsk, along with a warehouse near the village of Yegorlitskoye in the Rostov region and Mozdok in North Ossetia, was their storage site. The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, Andrey Kovalenko, also confirmed that North Korean KN23 ammunition, as well as artillery shells and ammunition for the Smerch, were stored at a warehouse in the Tikhorsky district of Russia.

Tikhoretsk was a main hub for shells and was hugely enlarged for the whole war. The depot in Kamenny, Tikhoretsky district, was old and not even protected to modern standard, but looked like an unusual lot of material was left outside. Possibly because was ready to go on trains and trucks. The US Mission to the UN reported 13 October 2023 "Our information indicates that, in recent weeks, the DPRK has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions. These arms transfers directly violate UNSC resolutions and we will expose these arms deals at UN alongside our Allies and partners."

John Kirby, the White House National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, said on 13 October 2023, "We have received information that North Korea has provided Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine.... We now have information that North Korea has delivered arms to Russia for use in Ukraine. Our information indicates that in recent weeks North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1000 containers of military equipment and munitions. Today, we are releasing imagery showing the movement of these containers from the DPRK into Russia by ship.” “According to our information, in recent weeks North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition,” Coordinator Kirby said in an online briefing that day. At the same time, they released photographic evidence showing the containers being moved from North Korea to Russia via ships and trains. According to data released by the White House, on the 7th and 8th of last month, approximately 300 standard 6-meter maritime transport containers were captured loaded onto the North Korean port of Rajin. On the 12th, the Russian-flagged Angara was spotted anchored at the port of Dunai in eastern Russia carrying containers, and on the 1st, a train carrying containers was confirmed to have arrived at an ammunition depot in Tikhoretsk, a region on the border between Russia and Ukraine.

According to this data, between the 7th of last month and the 1st of this month, a Russian ship transported containers containing military supplies from the North Korean port of Rajin to the Dunai region in eastern Russia, where the containers were then loaded onto a train and transported to an ammunition depot in Tikhoretsk, southeastern Russia, about 290 km from the Ukrainian border. In response, Coordinator Kirby emphasized, “We condemn North Korea for providing Russia with military equipment that will be used to attack Ukrainian cities, massacre civilians, and further escalate Russia’s illegal war,” and “We will continue to monitor additional North Korean weapons shipments to Russia.”

Tatarigami_UA reported the Tikhoretsk ammo depot was closely monitored by Frontelligence Insight for its role in artillery ammo logistics, gained international attention in 2023 following the arrival of North Korean ammo.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that two UAVs targeting Tikhoretsk were "suppressed", with debris causing a fire and detonation of flammable materials. Videos on social media suggest a large denotation. The Tikhoretsk ammo depot was expanded in 2023 to store North Korean munitions. Most ammo arrived by train in containers, unloaded and stored in revetments - essentially pits in the ground under open sky. Civilian trucks then transported the munitions to frontlines. As of late 2023, the Tikhoretsk depot lacked any proper cover for ammo in revetments. Given that ammo at the Toropets depot detonated despite being stored in "bunkers," the chances of ammo surviving in open-air pits are even lower. NASA FIRMS data confirmed significant fires at the Tikhoretsk ammunition depot, with fires also raging at a nearby airfield.

Highmarsed noted : "Ukraine might have destroyed some artillery systems in the strike on the 719th Artillery Ammunition base. In 2021 the base held more than 200 towed artillery units (marked red) and in a more recent image from August 2024 there were still 58 units left."

The massive Ukrainian drone attack set a Russian arms depot ablaze deep inside the country, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of his visit to the White House that Kyiv's multi-point "victory plan" demands quick action from the US. 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."

Kiev Independ journalist Illia Ponomarenko wrote "This is the way Russia will be forced to stop its war on Ukraine. Not with begging, or thinking about "saving Putin's face," or "giving him another chance," or twisting Ukraine's arms for "compromises for peace," or protecting the Russian airbases from Ukrainian attacks, or surrendering to Putin's endless nuclear extortion, or with absurd exercises in "escalation management" or "not wanting to spoil future relations with the Kremlin". This is the only way, and Ukraine is doing it right now."