UK intelligence assesses consequences of strike on ammunition depot in Toropets, Russia

The strike on the Russian ammunition depot in the city of Toropets, Tver Oblast, will affect the operations of Russian forces, particularly in Kursk Oblast.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review dated 21 September on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda

Details: The review notes that the strategic ammunition depot in Toropets, located about 500 km (310 miles) from Ukrainian territory, was among the largest in Russia, housing over 30,000 tonnes of ordnance.

UK intelligence believes that the depot was destroyed due to poor ammunition storage practices, leaving it vulnerable to drone strikes  – despite upgrades in 2018 following a number of detonation incidents.

This caused a "chain reaction of cascading detonations within the bunker system, resulting in enormous losses of ordnance," the review says.

"Russian air defence continues to struggle with Ukrainian deep strike operations, despite claiming to have intercepted more than 50 UAVs in this attack," UK Defence Intelligence stressed.

It states that the strike on the depot "will highly likely disrupt Russian ground operations, particularly in the Kursk region".

Background: 

• Ukrainska Pravda sources reported that the warehouse in Toropets contained missiles for Iskander tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, guided aerial bombs and artillery ammunition.
• Earlier, Estonia's General Staff reported that Russia's loss of a vast amount of ammunition as a result of the attack on Toropets would affect the frontline situation in the coming weeks.

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