New satellite images show huge damage after one of Russia's largest ammunition warehouses explodes

• One of Russia's largest ammunition warehouses exploded earlier this week.

• Satellite images captured on Thursday showed significant damage at the scene in northeastern Moscow.

• The image appears to show destroyed buildings and extensive scorched earth.

Satellite images captured Thursday caught fire in one of Russia's largest ammunition warehouses and showed serious damage after an explosion earlier this week.

Images taken by Planet Labs and obtained by business insiders show that in the Moscow region, 300 miles from the Ukrainian border, Arsenal, the 51st largest Missile and Artillery Agency (GRAU) northeast of Moscow in the Vladimir region. This is a huge facility.

Overhead images show what appears to have been destroyed and scorched earth, consistent with the fire caused by the initial and subsequent explosions taken by Witnesses on Tuesday. The entire damage to Grau is not clear, but it seems that a large portion of the facilities are affected.

The Russian Ministry of Defense did not identify the facility by name in the statement, but it said a fire broke out in an unnamed military site in the Vladimir region, causing ammunition to explode in the warehouse. Several people reportedly suffered harm in the consequences.

Russian state media said a state of emergency was declared in a specific area where the 51st GRAU is located.

“The fire was caused by the violation of safety requirements when using explosive materials,” the Russian ministry wrote in a statement to the telegram. It said the incident would be investigated.

After the explosion, the video began to appear on social media, with Russian ammunition reportedly raining in nearby civilian areas.

The Ukrainian Strategic Communications Center describes the ammunition facility as one of Russia's largest ammunition arsenals. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Kiev Counterattack False Information Center, said the site has about 100,000 tons of weapons, including artillery shells and missiles. BI cannot independently verify these details.

Russia's accident history in 51st Grau. In June 2022, four people were killed in the facility when the ammunition exploded during an unloading operation. In 2019, another Russian ammunition warehouse was blown up twice.

In the ongoing war, Russia's ammunition warehouses were also high-value targets for Ukraine, which used domestically produced missiles and drones to launch very successful in-depth attacks on neighbors' military and energy facilities.

Ukrainian troops attacked several Russian ammunition depots in the fall, indicating that their hike and Moscow air defense were ineffective.

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