According to various sources, on September 18, 2024, an attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was carried out first on the 107th arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, and 3 days later on the 23rd arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, located 16 km south of the destroyed 107th arsenal near the city of Toropets.
Shortly before this, ammunition was delivered to Staraya Toropa station, adjacent to the 23rd arsenal of the GRAU, from the 1562nd separate anti-aircraft repair and technical base (military unit 64608 of the Armed Forces of Belarus), located near the city of Osipovichi and directly adjacent to the Lapichi railway station (Mogilev Division of Belarusian Railway – NOD-5).
The export of ammunition, specifically missiles for anti-aircraft missile systems, was carried out according to the following scheme:
- Cargo departure station: Osipovichi-I (Mogilev Division of Belarusian Railway);
- Cargo destination station: Staraya Toropa (Oktyabrskaya Railway, Russian Railways);
- The sender of the cargo from the Belarusian side was: the 1562nd separate anti-aircraft repair and technical base of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus (Military Unit 64608);
- The recipient from the Russian side: the 23rd arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation;
- The total volume of cargo shipped was: 94 gondola cars with missile armaments for SAM systems in packaging containers, as well as 5 railcars with escort and security (1 boxcar per shipment).
- Approximate time of dispatch of railcar groups – late July – early August 2024 (it should be noted that these shipments were carried out under unprecedented secrecy, which is why approximate dates and periods of cargo movement from sender to recipient are provided here and further);
- The delivery of the entire volume of ammunition was carried out by 5 groups (train consists), from which individual trains were formed. By its class, the cargo was defined as explosive materials (EM) – dangerous goods of class 1.
Route of railcar groups carrying explosive materials: Osipovichi-I (Belarusian Railway) → Mogilev-II (Belarusian Railway) → Orsha-Tsentralnaya (Belarusian Railway) → Vitebsk (Belarusian Railway) → Yezerishche-junction (Belarusian Railway) → Zaverezhye-junction (Russian Railways) → Nevel-I (Russian Railways) → Chernozem (Russian Railways) → Velikiye Luki (Russian Railways) → Kunya (Russian Railways) → Staraya Toropa (Russian Railways).
The distance between the departure and destination stations is 530 km. The estimated delivery time is 3 days. The loading of one gondola car was from 20 to 30 tonnes.
Additionally, we know from our sources that, in addition to the aforementioned shipments to Staraya Toropa station (23rd arsenal of the GRAU of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation), a number of other deliveries were planned, which are currently suspended, likely due to the Ukrainian UAV attacks on the specified storage arsenals, which were the final destination of the cargo.
As reported by American OSINT researcher “MT_Anderson“, as a result of the attack on the 23rd arsenal of the GRAU of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, almost 60 storage facilities were severely damaged, non-public railway tracks (including access tracks from Staraya Toropa station), ammunition loading and unloading areas, as well as railcars that were on the arsenal's territory at the time of the attack.
Radio Liberty provided high-resolution satellite images taken on September 22, which allow assessing the consequences of the Ukrainian UAV attack on the 23rd arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (GRAU) in the village of Oktyabrsky, Tver region. In the northern part of the arsenal, more than half of the ammunition storage facilities burned out, while the southern part remained almost untouched.
The specified ammunition deliveries to Staraya Toropa station are the largest in volume to date for 2024, and the largest in terms of ammunition export from Osipovichi station for the same period.
Previous railway shipments of ammunition from Belarus to Russia, which occurred this year, had much smaller volumes:
- Departure station: Bobr (Minsk Division of Belarusian Railway);
Destination station: Kirzhach (Moscow Railway);
Sender: 391st Artillery Ammunition Base (Military Unit 29253);
Recipient: Military Unit 54169-VD;
Cargo: 7 boxcars loaded with artillery ammunition;
- Departure station: Bobr (Minsk Division of Belarusian Railway);
Destination station: Lukovsky (North Caucasus Railway);
Sender: 391st Artillery Ammunition Base (Military Unit 29253);
Recipient: Military Unit 57229-40;
Cargo: 12 boxcars loaded with artillery ammunition;
- Departure station: Osipovichi-I (Mogilev Division of Belarusian Railway);
Destination station: Lukovsky (North Caucasus Railway);
Sender: 1562nd separate anti-aircraft repair and technical base of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus (Military Unit 64608);
Recipient: Military Unit 57229-40;
Cargo: 4 boxcars loaded with explosive materials.
We remind you that in 2022 – 2023, a massive export of ammunition from storage arsenals in Belarus to Russia was carried out to supply the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. You can find information on the volumes of export and other analytical data on these transports by following this link.
