Russia’s Negligence Caused Blast That Wiped Out Its Ammo Depot

A combination of poor weapons handling and faulty storage practices likely led to the blasts that rocked Russia’s 51st GRAU arsenal in late April, the U.K. Defense Ministry said, Matthew Loh reported for Business Insider.

The 51st GRAU depot held around 105,000 tons of munitions, including ballistic, air-launched, and air defense missiles. I Image: Maxar

In an intelligence update, the ministry said the explosions likely marked the Kremlin’s largest loss of munitions due to its own troops’ actions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

“It is highly likely that poor weapons handling procedures, alongside negligent storage of munitions, resulted in this loss,” the ministry wrote.

“This is in keeping with a long-standing trend of regularly evidenced Russian ineptitude regarding the safe and proper handling of its own munitions,” it added.

The ammunition depot—about 50 miles northeast of Moscow in the Vladimir region—suffered multiple explosions after catching fire on April 22. On the same day, the Kremlin said a fire at the depot caused munitions to detonate.

The Russian defense ministry blamed the disaster on “violation of safety requirements when working with explosive materials.”

The U.K. defense ministry cited Ukrainian figures indicating the 51st GRAU depot held around 105,000 tons of munitions, including ballistic, air-launched, and air defense missiles.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of Kyiv’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said the depot also stored artillery shells at the time of the blasts.