Satellite photos show ‘near total destruction’ of Russian munitions depot

New satellite images show the aftermath of Ukrainian drone strikes on a Russian munitions storage site in Russia’s Voronezh region earlier this month, the British government says.

The Ministry of Defense in London said Wednesday that satellite images from July 8 showed a storage area and “destroyed” buildings at a large weapons and ammunition depot near the village of Sergeevka in Voronezh. Newsweek contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email for comment.

Ukrainian media reported earlier this month that kyiv’s SBU security service targeted an ammunition depot near Sergeevka with explosive drones on July 7, the site housing surface-to-surface, surface-to-air missiles, tank and artillery shells as well as small arms ammunition destined for Russian troops in Ukraine.

Separately, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR said in late June that its forces had targeted an ammunition depot in the Voronezh region, starting a fire.

Voronezh Region Governor Alexander Gusev said on July 7 that a state of emergency had been declared around the Podgorensky area, and some residents had been temporarily evacuated from the area. Podgorensky is just west of Sergeevka.

Air defenses “destroyed several drones” over the area, with the fragments causing a fire in a warehouse, Gusev said. Geotagged images from July 7 showed smoke and explosions in the area, the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, said at the time.

The Ukrainian drone strike “resulted in the near total destruction of munitions and equipment” stored in the open and in buildings at the facility, the British government said in an intelligence update posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

“This is a significant loss in a deposit that would extend over approximately 9 square kilometres,” the London government said.

The success of Ukrainian drone strikes shows that Russia is unable to protect its key sites from Kiev’s reach, despite a heavy air defence presence in the area about 50 miles from the Ukrainian border, the British Ministry of Defence said.

“Such shortcomings will almost certainly lead to further losses during further well-planned Ukrainian strikes,” the ministry said.

Losing access to new munitions “will further strain Russia’s already strained supply chains” and force Russia to allocate its resources to avoid further successful Ukrainian strikes, the ministry said.

Moscow is counting on its stockpiles to support its war of attrition in Ukraine, London said, requiring “enormous quantities of munitions.”

Russia has been making slow but steady progress in eastern Ukraine, but at a heavy cost to its personnel fighting on the front lines. Analysts and officials say Moscow hopes to outlast Ukraine’s stockpiles of fighters and equipment, but it needs large reserves of ammunition to sustain its efforts.

“Russia is now dependent on its few foreign partners for this supply,” with domestic industry struggling to keep up, the British government said.

Moscow’s allies, including North Korea, China and Iran, have reportedly sent additional munitions and missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine. Beijing has repeatedly denied providing additional munitions and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

Ukraine is also struggling to maintain stockpiles of shells and ammunition for its forces as the war drags on.