In the second half of the day on April 22, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of a military facility near the village of Barsovo and the city of Kirzhach in the Vladimir region of Russia. The explosion took place at one of the largest missile and artillery storage arsenals of the Russian Ministry of Defense — the so-called 51st Arsenal of the GRAU.
Authorities Confirm the Incident
The governor of the Vladimir region, Alexander Avdeev, confirmed the fact of the explosion in his Telegram channel, noting that "relevant services are working at the scene," but did not specify the exact location of the event.
Russian media and Telegram channels reported the beginning of the evacuation of residents from settlements near the arsenal. People are being temporarily accommodated in Kirzhach. The Russian EMERCOM declared a state of emergency in the area of the incident.
Reasons and Official Version
According to official information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the detonation of munitions occurred as a result of a fire on the territory of the military unit. The agency reports that there are no casualties. A special commission has been established to clarify the circumstances, which is to determine the causes of the event and the individuals responsible.
Strategic Facility Under Threat
The 51st Arsenal of the GRAU is a key facility of Russian defense infrastructure. It is located approximately 60 km from Moscow and about 550 km from the Ukrainian border. The total area of the site is nearly 3.5 sq. km, allowing the storage of up to 270,000 tons of ammunition in 45 bunkers and on 30 open sites.
According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), more than 100,000 tons of various types of weapons were stored at this arsenal, including rockets "Iskander", "Kinzhal", "Point-U", S-300 and S-400 missile systems, as well as munitions for rocket salvo systems — "Grad", "Smerch", and "Uragan".
Analysts: Attack Could Have Been Extremely Complex
Specialist military commentators from Defense Express suggest that the nature of the explosion indicates a probable detonation of munitions with solid fuel charges. In their opinion, striking such an object, which is under a dense air defense umbrella of the metropolitan region, is a complex task. Officially, Russia has not declared an attack by drones or missiles, leaving room for versions about alternative methods of attack or possible oversights in the air defense systems.
Kyiv Refrained from Official Comments
Ukraine has not yet commented on the possible involvement in the explosion at the arsenal in the Vladimir region. At the same time, let's recall that in October 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces officially confirmed the damage of another strategic GRAU arsenal — the 67th warehouse in the Bryansk region of Russia. There have also been reports of explosions at arsenals in Volgograd and Tver regions.
