Big Bangs Bamboozle Baddies

Sorry, just couldn’t resist the alliteration opportunity.  But there is truth to the headline – both Iran and Russia have been on the receiving end of explosions which would get anyone’s attention.

First up, Russia. Not the car explosion which killed a high Russian general which Moscor blames on Ukraine, although ‘splodey cars are serious business.  No, they managed to do ugly damage to their own ammo plant.

Secondary explosions at the 51st GRAU (Main Missile and Artillery Directorate) arsenal near Kirzhach, Vladimir Oblast, persisted through the night. Satellite data from NASA’s FIRMS system confirms that the entire facility, spanning 502 hectares, is ablaze.

Call it a bit over 1200 acres.

According to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), the 51st GRAU Arsenal stores approximately 105,000 tons of weapons, including Iskander, Tochka-U, and Kinzhal missiles; ammunition for Pantsir-S1, S-300, and S-400 air defense systems; as well as Grad, Smerch, and Uragan multiple rocket launchers.

Might want to relook that inventory, eh?

Initial speculation from Ukrainian Telegram channels and open-source military observers suggested that the explosion may have been the result of a Ukrainian long-range drone strike, potentially involving the domestically produced Palianytsia  (or Palyanytsia) turbojet drone missile system, capable of striking targets deep inside Russian territory. However, these claims have not been independently verified, and Ukrainian authorities have provided no official confirmation.  Aerotime

Russia blames “mishandling” and says the appropriate people will be punished. Given the nature of explosions, they may have already been – very quickly.

Then we get to Iran. While US and Iranian representatives met in Oran, Iran suffered a massive explosion at one of their port facilities.

A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 25 people and injuring around 800 others.

No one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response.”

Because everyone knows missile fuel is stable and unlikely to blow if mishandled.

Private security firm Ambrey says the port received missile fuel chemical in March. It is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, Houthis – they take a hit in their supplies and the damage, dead, and wounded are in Iran.  We call that a “trifecta”.

In a first reaction Sunday, the spokesman of Iran’s defense ministry Gen. Reza Talaeinik, denied reports that missile fuel had been imported through the port.

“No sort of imported and exporting consignment for fuel or military application was (or) is in the site of the port,” he told state TV by phone. He called foreign reports on the missile fuel baseless.  AP

Sympathies to the innocent injured, though.

Category: Iran, Russia, Schadenfreude