Satellite Data Shows Massive Fire Following Russian Arsenal Explosion
Satellite Data Shows Massive Fire Following Russian Arsenal Explosion
PAYNE INSTITUTE COMMENTARY SERIES: COMMENTARY
April 23, 2025
On April 22, 2025, a significant explosion followed by a large fire appears to have occurred at the 51st Arsenal of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate near Kirzhach, in Russia’s Vladimir Oblast, northeast of Moscow.
Satellite data confirms that an initial blast triggered ongoing secondary detonations throughout the night and into the next day. 1 Russian authorities reported four injuries and evacuated around 450-500 people from nearby villages, declaring a local state of emergency. Officially, Russia’s Ministry of Defense blamed the incident on a violation of safety protocols during work with explosives. 2 However, Ukrainian officials and media suggest the possibility of a Ukrainian long-range drone strike targeting munitions, potentially during unloading near railway lines, although Ukraine has not formally claimed responsibility.3 The facility is described as one of Russia’s largest arsenals, reportedly storing over 100,000 tons of various weapons, including missiles and artillery ammunition.
The VIIRS Nightfire4 detected intense thermal anomalies from large fires at the Kirzhach arsenal. The linked animation displays these detections captured over multiple satellite passes. In the animation, red rectangular footprints represent individual VIIRS infrared M-band pixel detections, with brighter rectangles signifying greater fire radiative power (heat intensity). Covering a large portion of the arsenal, the numerous overlapping detections show widespread and intense fire activity throughout the night, consistent with reports of continuous secondary detonations and a major blaze engulfing the ammunition storage site.
References
- https://www.businessinsider.com/blast-rocks-russian-ammo-depot-kremlin-says-explosives-mishandled-2025-4
- https://www.newsweek.com/enormous-russian-arms-depot-explodes-emptying-nearby-villages-2063032
- https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/destroyed-arsenal-near-moscow-what-was-stored-1745337569.html#:~:text=In%20total%2C%20the%20arsenal%20held%20approximately%20105%2C000%20tons%20of%20weaponry.
- https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/5/9/4423
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mikhail Zhizhin, Research Associate, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines
Mikhail Zhizhin, M.Science in mathematics from the Moscow State University in 1984, Ph.D. in computational seismology and pattern recognition from the Russian Acad. Sci. in 1992. Research positions from 1987 to 2012 in geophysics, space research and nuclear physics at Russian Acad. Sci., later at NOAA and CU Boulder. Currently he is a researcher at the Earth Observation Group at Colorado School of Mines. His applied research fields evolved from high performance computing in seismology, geodynamics, terrestrial and space weather to deep learning in remote sensing. He is developing new machine learning algorithms to better understand the Nature with Big Data.
Morgan Bazilian
Director, Payne Institute and Professor of Public Policy
Morgan Bazilian is the Director of the Payne Institute and a Professor of public policy at the Colorado School of Mines. Previously, he wD.as lead energy specialist at the World Bank. He has over two decades of experience in the energy sector and is regarded as a leading expert in international affairs, policy and investment. He is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Christopher Elvidge
Senior Research Associate, Director of Earth Observation Group
Christopher D. Elvidge has decades of experience with satellite low light imaging data, starting in 1994. He pioneered nighttime satellite observation on visible lights, heat sources including gas flares and wildfires, as well as bright lit fishing vessels. He led the development of these nighttime remote sensed products with images from DMSP, JPSS, and Landsat satellites. These data are very popular and used globally in both public and private sectors. As of February 2018, he has more than 11,000 scholarly publication citations.
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DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or official policies of the Payne Institute or the Colorado School of Mines.