51st Arsenal GRAU
The 51st arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) located in Barsovo, Kirzhachsky District, Vladimir Oblast, 70 km northeast of Moscow, is one of the largest ammunition depots in Russia.[1] It is identified by the Russian Armed Forces as Military Unit Number 55443-VD (formerly 11785).
Its geographic coordinates are 56°06′05″N 38°44′50″E / 56.101466125876044°N 38.74729263195981°E.
Characteristics
This arsenal of the Russian Missile Troops and Artillery occupies an area of 502 hectares (3.5 km²), with a perimeter of 8.4 km. Its storage capacity is estimated at 105,300 tons of ammunition in 45 individual storage facilities and 30 open-air ammunition storage areas.[2]
In 2009, it comprised 14.2 km of railways and 15.3 km of roads, with a capacity of 4,286 ammunition wagons - 64 tonnes each - or more than 264,000 tonnes at its maximum.[3]
The depot stores a wide variety of munitions, including solid-propellant anti-aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles, multiple rocket launchers, and various types of shells. It reportedly stores munitions transferred from Belarus.
It also handles their assembly (e.g., the installation of warheads on anti-tank missiles), repairs them, and disposes of them in the event of a defect.
It is one of eleven critical military logistics platforms for the distribution and maintenance of munitions in European Russia, operational in 2023.
In 2009, the arsenal director was a senior warrant officer receiving 22,000 rubles ($265). The civilian staff was largely female, paid 6,000 to 8,000 rubles ($72 to $96).
History
The majority of the facilities were built in the 1970s and 1980s during the Soviet Union. The arsenal was listed among the GRAU's installations during the 1980s.[4]
In 2013, it was decided to modernize the arsenal with fortified bunkers built to modern standards. However, nearly half of the 1.3 billion ruble budget was misappropriated by contractors. Work continued until 2021.
Satellite images show that more than half of the buildings, including all those along the railway, were not covered with any layer of earth, but only protected by revetments.
Many revetments appear to have been built only on one side of the buildings, not around them.
Photos show that ammunition crates were stored in the open air.
In June 2002, four people were killed when ammunition exploded during unloading operations.[5]
On 28 June 2022 the cell "BOAK-Vladimir" published a press release claiming sabotage action on the arsenal's railway. The rails were damaged. BOAK's press release stated, "Every stopped train helps to get rid of missiles and rockets, which could hit peaceful Ukrainian cities!"[6]
Explosion on April 22, 2025
On April 22, 2025, violent explosions destroyed a square kilometer of the site[7] while Ukraine estimates that it contained 105,000 tons of munitions.[8]
On April 23, secondary explosions continued at the arsenal. Authorities evacuated eight nearby villages and two second-home cooperatives, or approximately 450 people.[9] Thirty-seven towns were cut off from gas supplies. The furthest evacuated town is 4.5 kilometers from the site, while the town of Kirzhach, located only 5-6 kilometers away, was not evacuated.
The Russian Defence Ministry issued a statement on April 22, 2025, denying any casualties and attributing the incident to "a violation of safety regulations when handling explosive materials." Regional governor reports four injured on day of explosion.[10] Earth observation satellites from the Fire Information for Resource Management System indicate fires until April 24, 2025.
The worst-affected area of the arsenal is around the railway loading/unloading facility, which could support the hypothesis of an accident involving an ammunition train.
Related article
Notes
- ^ Félix Pennel (April 25, 2025). ""Catastrophic explosion "In a Russian arsenal, tens of thousands of tons of munitions destroyed". La Voix du Nord.
- ^ "Fire, explosions at vast munitions depot in Russia's Vladimir Oblast". english.nv.ua. April 23, 2025.
- ^ See 2009 visit by journalists at external links below.
- ^ Feskov et al. 2013, p. 297.
- ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/new-satellite-image-shows-damage-huge-russian-ammo-depot-exploded-2025-4
- ^ "Sabotage action on the railway of military unit 55443 VD Barsovo (51th Arsenal of the Main rocket-artillery department of Russian Defense ministry) | Anarcho-Communists Combat Organization".
- ^ https://www.lindependant.fr/2025/04/22/il-abritait-des-obus-dartillerie-des-roquettes-pour-mlrs-ou-encore-des-missiles-tactiques-importante-explosion-dans-lun-des-plus-grands-depots-de-12651892.php
- ^ "One of the largest ammunition depots exploded in Russia". The Odessa Journal. 22 April 2025.
- ^ "Video: p".Several massive explosions destroy a Russian munitions depot, Moscow calls it an accident.
- ^ "Four people injured in blast at munitions depot in Vladimir Region — governor". Tass. April 22, 2025.
- https://siliyan.ru/sevihcra/504/ - journalists' visit to arsenal in 2009
- Feskov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A.; Golikov, V.I.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные силы СССР после Второй Мировой войны: от Красной Армии к Советской (часть 1: Сухопутные войска) [The Armed Forces of the USSR after World War II, from the Red Army to the Soviet (Part 1: Land Forces).]. Tomsk.
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