Hundreds of tons of gunpowder and thousands of shells were destroyed in a huge explosion in Russia

[Starmix]

According to the report, in the Ryazan region, as a result of an explosion at the Russian gunpowder and shell factory Elastik, about 300 tons of gunpowder for artillery shells and 600 units of 152-mm shells were lost. This was reported by " Military " with reference to data from the OSINT resource DniproOSINT.It is noted that the exact causes of the incident have not yet been established, and the preliminary version being considered is a violation of the technological process. As a result of the explosion in the gunpowder workshop on August 15, 2025, 28 people were killed and more than one hundred and fifty were injured. According to ASTRA, the examination confirmed the death of 28 people; the remaining bodies are in the process of identification. "After the detonation, a large-scale fire began, which spread to three other buildings, including a warehouse with shells loaded with TNT, as well as the premises of the second production workshop. The said workshop specialized in the production of 152-mm artillery shells used in heavy artillery systems: howitzers, cannons, and self-propelled guns," the statement said. Co-founder and executive director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, Dmitry Zhmailo, noted on air during the telethon that, judging by satellite images, the restoration of this Russian enterprise will take a long time.

The report also stated that the Russian army in 2025 will use, on average, from 20 thousand to 27 thousand shells per day. From 300 tons of gunpowder, considering that the main shell that was produced at this plant and that the Russian army uses is 152 mm caliber, it is possible to produce somewhere around 35-40 thousand shells, depending on the type of ammunition. On average, one shell requires 7 kg 600 grams of gunpowder," he said. At the same time, he noted that for Ukraine, now it is not so much the destruction of gunpowder and shells that is of interest, but rather the blocking of production that is important. "That is, given the capacity of this enterprise, which is one of the main ones in the Russian Federation's ammunition production system, this will be a significant weakening of the Russian Federation. I am not saying that they will immediately feel a shortage of shells, but the downtime of this enterprise will affect the nature of the combat operations of the Russian army, which will most likely increase the martyr component, the production of FPV drones on fiber optics," Zhmailo noted. According to him, the Russian Federation produces 1.3 million shells per year, which corresponds to their daily norm for using this type of weapon in Ukraine.