Ukrainian Drones Strike Russian Ammo Storage Sites

The war in Ukraine
has turbocharged the development of cheap and basic drones
used en masse in warfare. As another indication of just how much these drones are reshaping the modern battlefield, three major Russian ammunition storage sites have been dramatically damaged or destroyed in recent Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia. (including potentially destroying the first fifth generation fighter jet and

downing the first helicopter in flight
).

Chain explosion at Russian ammo storage sites

Three Russian ammunition storage sites – Toropets and Oktyabrsk to the west of Moscow and Tikhoretsk in southern Russia have seen tens of thousands of tons of ammunition detonate in spectacular fashion. Notably, Toropets is believed to have stored North Korean missiles that Russia has purchased from the hermit state.

Open-source analysis later assessed that as many as two-thirds of Toropets’ storage sites had been destroyed, and another quarter had been damaged.

The attacks on Tikhoretsk and Okyabrsk took place on September 21, while Toropets was struck on September 18. The MoD stated over 30,000 tonnes of ordnance was stored at Toropets, while The War Zone reported over 2,000 tons of ammunition (that included more North Korean missiles) were stored at Tikhoresk. CNN stated that Okyabrsk is “allegedly used to store Iskander tactical missile systems and Tochka-U tactical missile systems.”

MiG-31 with Kinzhal hypersonic missile

Explosions at Toropets resembled the mushroom cloud of an atomic explosion and were detected as 2.7 earthquakes on the Richter scale. Satellite images revealed one particularly large crater around 270 feet wide.

British MoD assessment of Toropets

The British MoD assessed that the loss of Toropets would highly likely disrupt Russian ground operations, particularly in the Kursk region. The British MoD also noted, “Ammunition procured from North Korea was also reportedly stored here.

“Renovated in 2018, this [Toropets] is one of Russia’s largest strategic ammunition reports directly supporting its operation in Ukraine, storing more than 30,000 tonnes of ordnance… It is highly likely that poor storage of munitions, left vulnerable to OWA UAVs, caused a chain reaction of cascading detonations within the bunker system, resulting in enormous losses of ordance.” – British MoD

Expanding use of drones

Ukraine is limited by most US-imposed restrictions on striking Russia proper with Western-provided arms. It also has a weak air force and limited amounts of artillery shells, which has forced Ukraine to rely more and more on drones to carry the fight to Russia (although Russia has also been relying more on drones to continue its war against Ukraine).

Unmanned Russian military drone Lancet flying

Photo: Anelo l Shutterstock

Ukraine has developed water jetski-like drones that have crippled the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

It has struck Russian air bases
, oil refining facilities, ammo storage bases and more with growing fleets of ever-capable drones. Russian EW countermeasures and other air defense are formidable, but Russia struggles to cope with such large swarms of drones.

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