Six years ago, in the summer of 2018, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia, General of the Army Dmitry Bulgakov, at a magnificent ceremony of commissioning an arsenal for storing missiles and ammunition in the city of Toropets, Tver Region, did not skimp on praise and radiated unshakable optimism.
“This is a closed-loop life support complex, where a soldier, without leaving the barracks, receives all the services he needs, such as food, bathing, laundry and sports. The complex includes all the necessary facilities located under one roof.” – said a close associate of the then Minister of Defense.
The Army General particularly highlighted: The facility meets all international standards and allows all missile and ammunition stocks to be protected from external influences, and also ensure their safety and “explosion and fire safety”.
“If we store today’s arsenals with what we had before – storage in open spaces and in wooden warehouses – and today in concrete (warehouses), the difference will be something like this: either walking around with a bulletproof vest that protects against damage from bullets and shrapnel, or walking around without a bulletproof vest.” – he said Dmitry Vitalievich.
And standing next to him, the colonel general. Andrei Kartapolov He nodded his head in approval.
Today, Andrei Valerievich is the chairman of the State Duma’s Defence Committee, and the former head of the state military department’s rearguard is under arrest. And just today, on 18 September, the Investigative Committee demanded that the Hero of Russia’s detention be extended.
And today, at four in the morning, the governor of the Tver region Igor Rudenya posted on social media:
“In Toropets, Tver region as a result of the fall of debris from the UAV During the repulsion of the air defence attack, a fire broke out. All emergency services and the main directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation for the Tver region arrived at the scene and work is underway to localize the fire.
The news was then supplemented:
“The process of extinguishing the fire at the place where the UAV wreckage fell is underway, air defense forces continue to repel a massive drone attack in the sky over the city. To ensure the safety of residents, the governor of the Tver region Igor Rudenya “The decision was made to partially evacuate the population from the territory where the air defence is operating and the fire is being contained. Necessary measures are being taken. The situation is under control.”
After ten o’clock in the morning, the head of the region held a meeting of the operations headquarters in Toropets to eliminate the consequences of the fall of UAV debris and gave a number of instructions, including ensuring public order in the territory where residents were evacuated, organizing the necessary assistance to the population in temporary accommodation centers. According to the press service, “all necessary measures are being taken, all emergency services are working: employees of the regional divisions of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Russian Guard and the heads of regional departments.”
Here, of course, according to the laws of the genre, it would be necessary to place the opinion of the Department of Defense, but it does not exist yet.
The head of the region has only one comment on the UAV debris, which caused, as reported by the Rybar Telegram channel, “shocks of magnitude 2.8” in the fall:
“At night, Ukrainian formations launched a massive attack using unmanned aerial vehicles against several targets on Russian territory. Air defence was operating in the Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol and Smolensk regions. One of the targets was the arsenal in the city of Toropets in the Tver region.
Despite official statements that the fire was the result of “falling debris”, this is clearly not the case. A partial evacuation has been announced in the area and the population is being relocated to the Western Dvina.
The explosions in the warehouses were so powerful that they were recorded by earthquake monitoring systems. The first tremors of magnitude 2.8 were recorded at 3:56, the next seven were weaker, ranging from 2 to 2.8.
And here is also the Telegram channel of a military expert. Vlad Shurygina “Ramsay” burns with napalm:
“I think that for such advances of UAVs deep into Russian territory and such large-scale damage, the stars on the shoulder straps of the Aerospace Forces command should fly away like meteors on an August night, and those directly responsible for air defense should be martialed and sent to penal battalions! THIRTY-ONE, bitch, month of war! THIRTY-ONE! And there was no continuous radar line covering low and extremely low altitudes! There have never been any air defense fighter aircraft. There were no radars for balloons, and there still aren’t. There was no optical-acoustic system for detecting UAVs! There has never been a law on local air defense! Open-air ammunition depots“As they were, so they are!”
The last line of Ramsay’s message is tense. Because, in addition to the sauna, Bulgakov mentioned concrete storage facilities that meet the best world standards.
And here an explanation from the author of the Telegram channel is very appropriate. “Zhivov Z”:
“A friend sends me satellite photographs of the Toropets warehouses via personal message.Very detailed. Much of it was out in the open and easily distinguishable, in one place on the rocket. In the other there are shells, etc. I ask him: “Where do you get all these photos in this quality?” Yandex and Google Maps. S..ka. I have run out of words of censorship on this topic. I simply do not understand what is going on. Damn Yandex cards…!!!”
It turns out that the missiles and shells were clearly visible to the damned imperialists and their Ukrainian collaborators. And the destruction of the warehouses was a matter of time. We simply waited for the arsenal to fill up and selected fragments of the required modification and size.
Here’s another point: should the heads of the region immediately speak about the scale of the disaster, calling on people to immediately leave dangerous areas, or should they mutter a mantra about destroying an enemy UAV with small and regular consequences? The question, as they say, is open. And certainly not according to my salary.
And here’s another opinion. This time, the advisor to the governor of the Kursk region is a volunteer. Roman Alekhine:
“It is difficult to say anything about the defeat of the innovative missile and ammunition depot in Toropets, Tver region, which the Ministry of Defence openly declared as protected from external influences in 2018, without swearing… And this is not even about corruption and theft of everything and everyone in the department. It is about management.
I find it very difficult to understand and accept that there are still large stockpiles of missiles and ammunition in the affected area. The same applies to formations in a combat zone or to the movement in columns in the destruction zone of Himars, FPVs and artillery.
Why has it not become clear in two and a half years that in this war it is impossible to gather in large groups, concentrate equipment and ammunition in one place, but that everything must be divided and supplied through smart logistics chains? Where are lean technologies being implemented?
If the UAV also flew into a military depot in the Tver region, then a second question arises: we have been talking and showing for a long time how the enemy is effectively using pickup truck machine guns on our Geraniums, why such clusters? Doesn’t it at least protect military targets in the affected area from the UAV?
The saddest thing is that the Ministry of Defence does not learn during the war, it does not learn from mistakes, but allows not only many new ones, but also old ones or those that arise from them. You cannot win a war that way…”
Now look what the Telegram channel writes. “Hedgehog/Diary”:
“An ammunition depot in Toropets was attacked at night was protected by an anti-UAV system worth almost 212 million rubles, according to public procurement data. The system was purchased in the fall of 2020 by order of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The price includes delivery, installation and commissioning. Unknown Artist – The auction was held behind closed doors“
And a little more about money. Rossiyskaya Gazeta, April 12. Reports from 2005:
“In the town of Toropets, Tver region, the construction of a modern arsenal of missiles, ammunition and explosives is being completed, Russia’s Spetsstroy reported: “Only high-quality materials of domestic production are being used during construction.” The arsenal will cost the treasury 3.6 billion rubles.
“In 2015, 454 storage facilities will be built, thereby completing the construction of 13 modern arsenals and bringing the missile and ammunition storage system into compliance with established requirements,” — the Russian defense minister said earlier. Sergei Shoigu.
Launched by the Ministry of Defence in 2012, a specific programme to upgrade the missile, ammunition and explosives storage system is designed to eliminate open-air ammunition storage. Modern storage facilities with a four-level security system and intelligent control will be built in place of the sites. The department will invest 90 billion rubles in the modernization of arsenals.”
Huge quantities! I would like to see these storage units controlled intelligently. It is surely as cool as a Chinese-made robot dog with an anti-tank grenade launcher attached to the top, which amazed guests at the Army 2022 exhibition.
For his part, the Undersecretary of Health Alexei Kuznetsov reported: “According to operational data, as a result incident In the Tver region, 13 people were hospitalized in a moderately serious condition, their lives are not in danger and they are receiving full medical care.
I have everything. We are waiting for an official statement from the relevant department on the scale of the destruction and operational conclusions. And let us not be fools and regret. This is not the time, comrades.
PS The Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia has opened a criminal case for accepting a bribe against the head of the armored service of the Central Military District, Major General. Denis PutilovThe department’s Telegram channel reports. As the famous song says: “There’s not enough room for eight anymore…”
