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The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Russian: Гла́вное раке́тно-артиллери́йское управле́ние Министе́рства оборо́ны Росси́йской Федера́ции, abbr. ГРАУ Миноборо́ны Росси́и, romanized: Glavnoye raketno-artilleriyskoye upravleniye Ministerstva oborony Rossiyskoy Federatsii, abbr. GRAU Minoborony Rossíi), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (ГРАУ), is a department of the Ministry of Defence. It is subordinate to the Chief of Armament and Munition of the Russian Armed Forces, a vice-minister of defence.
The organization dates back to 1862 when it was established under the name Main Artillery Directorate (Главное артиллерийское управление, ГАУ, GAU). The "R" from "rockets" was added to the title from 19 November 1960.
As of April 2025, the Chief of the GRAU was General mayor Aleksey Volkov.[citation needed] He was appointed in May 2024 and succeeded Generál-leytenánt Nikolai Parshin (ru:Паршин, Николай Михайлович) who took office in mid-2012.
On December 28, 1862, by order of the Minister of War No. 375, the Main Artillery Directorate (GAU) of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire was established. The GAU supervised the supply of the army not only with artillery guns and ammunition, but also with small arms, and also supervised the combat training and staffing of artillery units. State-owned military factories were subordinate to it. It was headed by a General–Feldtseykhmeyster, and in 1908 the position of Chief of the GAU was introduced.[1]
In December 1917, in connection with the October Revolution and the final collapse of the Imperial Guard, Russian Imperial Army, Russian Imperial Navy and so on, the GAU was reorganized into the Artillery Directorate. It continued its work. No fundamental changes were made to it.[3] On October 15, 1918, the position of Inspector of Artillery was established for the leadership and management of artillery at the headquarters of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic. Since August 1921, the position was renamed Chief of Artillery of the Red Army. The same year, the Artillery Directorate became the Main Artillery Directorate. The Inspector of Artillery, in accordance with his duties, supervised the combat activity of the Red Army artillery, the creation of new artillery formations, the recruitment of personnel, and the preparation of key documents concerning the development of artillery. The total number of employees was 734.
The number of guns and mortars available to the troops rose from 10,700 in 1932, to 34,000 by the beginning of the Second World War, in 1939.
"The central warehouses of the GAU, as a rule, were of the 1st category. In the military districts there were warehouses of all categories, but warehouses of the 3rd and 4th categories prevailed. In 1940, all warehouses that had equipment and assembly shops and turned into large military production enterprises were renamed bases."
"The most intensive construction of central ammunition depots was noted in the third five-year plan (1938-1940), when 13 warehouses with a design storage capacity of 3,000 wagons of ammunition each were built and continued. Under favourable conditions, the construction of such a warehouse was completed within four years."
"Depending on the storage capacity and the availability of production workshops, all artillery depots were divided into 4 categories, as a rule, according to operational capacity:
a) warehouses of the 1st category, which included production workshops and storage capacities of up to 5000 wagons of cargo;
b) warehouses of the 2nd category had storage capacities of 700 and more wagons;
c) warehouses of the 3rd category - up to 500 wagons of cargo, respectively;
d) warehouses of the 4th category - up to 200 wagons of cargo, respectively."
"The average capacity of the central warehouse (base) for the specified period increased from 1800 to 2100 wagons, and the average capacity of the warehouse of district subordination decreased from 610 to 415 wagons. The construction of low-power district depots was due to the need to disperse mobilization stocks of ammunition, which, as a result of their advancement to the state border, became more vulnerable to air strikes."[4]
There were at least 33 central weapons/ammunition bases in five districts (Moscow, OrVO, KhaVO, Volga Military District, and the Ural Military District of the European part of the USSR at the beginning of the German Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion.
The 357th Central base of depots and Ammunition was located in Yuski (now in Udmurtia).
Marshal of Artillery Nikolai Yakovlev became head of the GAU at the beginning of the invasion, and held the post throughout the war.[5]
Materiel shortages during the Battle of Moscow in 1941 forced the introduction of strict rationing of ammunition supply at the Front level, and the centralization of munitions storage and distribution in the Central Bases of the People's Commissariat for Defence (NKO).[6]
Larger storage and manufacturing sites, arsenals began to appear after the end of the Second World War. The 47th Arsenal at Tsvetokha in the Slavuta Raion of the Khmelnytsky Oblast was established in 1945. Military Depot No. 61 of the NKO was formed on May 13, 1938, at Lozovaya in Kharkiv Oblast, and on August 1, 1960 it was transformed into the 61st Arsenal of the Ministry of Defence. It was part of GRAU during the 1980s.[7]
Ammunition depots were established for the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War. From August 8-10, 1988, there were fires and explosions in the 3704th Ammunition Depot (в/ч 77824 - 3704 артиллерийский склад вооружения и боеприпасов) of the 40th Army (Soviet Union), located in the Kelgai Valley near Puli Khumri.[8] The detonation of the explosives storage facility, according to eyewitnesses, resembled a nuclear one with the appearance of a characteristic "mushroom cloud". Eight soldiers and one civilian cook may have been killed, with others wounded. Western sources reported that the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union) denied there had been any casualties.[9]
After the declaration of independence of Ukraine, the 61st Arsenal at Lozovaya with a technical area of 247 hectares and a total area of 488.4 hectares was transferred to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. On August 27, 2008, a fire broke out at the arsenal, which led to the explosions of shells.
There has been large-scale use of ammunition since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has led to much of the Soviet-era ammunition being used up.[10]
Since 2009, there have been a number of fires and explosions at GRAU ammunition storage depots.
A major series of explosions occurred at an arms depot of the 31st Arsenal of the Caspian Flotilla near Ulyanovsk on 13 November 2009. At least two people were killed in the explosion and 43 were rescued from a bomb shelter where they had taken refuge.[14]
There were fires and explosions at the 102nd Arsenal GRAU at Pugachevo (Malaya Purga) in Udmurtia (Volga-Urals Military District) in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2018,[15] and two other incidents in 2011 at the 99th Arsenal in Bashkiria and at Ashuluk. There were three more fires in 2012.
On December 26, 2013, an Antonov An-12B transport aircraft of the Irkut company was flying along the route Novosibirsk - Irkutsk, but when landing, it crashed onto a warehouse of the 109th Arsenal GRAU located near the Irkutsk Northwest Airport (Siberian Military District).[16] All nine people on board were killed - six crew members and three passengers.
On 7 October 2020, a grass fire reached ammunition in open storage at Military Unit Number 55443 (once maybe the GRAU's 97th Arsenal) near Zheltukhino (ru:Желтухино (деревня, Рязанская область)) in Skopinsky District, Ryazan Oblast, igniting munitions.[17][18] Whether GRAU or the Western Military District was responsible for the depot was unclear. Interfaks-AVN wrote that there were 113 warehouses and bunkers with 75,000 tons of missiles, rockets, and artillery shells (including 152-mm) at the site. A woman died from injuries and there were at least another 15 victims in stable condition; the fire and explosions "damaged 430 structures, public facilities, apartment buildings, and private homes."
On 28 June 2022 the cell "BOAK-Vladimir" published a press release claiming sabotage action on railway of the 51st Arsenal GRAU (Military Unit Number 55443 VD), Barsovo, near Kirzhach in Vladimir Oblast. The rails were damaged. BOAK's press release stated, "Every stopped train helps to get rid of missiles and rockets, which could hit peaceful Ukrainian cities!"[19]
Toropets depot explosions – On the night of 17–18 September 2024, during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Ukraine launched a drone attack on the 107th Arsenal GRAU ammunition depot in Toropets, causing a massive series of explosions and fires while damaging much of the town.[21][22] The attack resulted in an earthquake-magnitude blast, and NASA satellites detected the resulting fires over an area of approximately 13 km2 (5 sq mi).[23] The blast wave spread up to 200 mi (320 km) and was estimated to be consistent with 200–240 tonnes of TNT (840–1,000 GJ) of high-explosives detonating.[24][23][25] The Security Service of Ukraine claimed that "Iskander, Tochka and KAB missiles" were stored at the facility.[25] Russian officials reported that 13 people had been injured and that an evacuation of the area had been ordered.[26]
On 21 September 2024 both the 23rd Arsenal GRAU near Oktyabrsky and the 719th Artillery Ammunition Depot near Tikhoretsk[27] caught fire due to drone attacks. The 23rd Arsenal is located 16 km south of Toropets, where the GRAU arsenal was still on fire from the attack three days prior.[28]
On 9 October 2024 the ammunition storage area at the 67th Arsenal GRAU (V/Ch 55443-BK (41), former V/Ch 92919) near Karachev, located in Bryansk Oblast, approximately 114 km from the Ukrainian border, was attacked by Ukrainian drones. Fires, explosions and continuous detonations for hours resulted, but initial battle damage assessment has not yet been made by independent military analysts.[29][30] Two ammunition storage warehouses were destroyed.[31]
On 20 November 2024 the 13th Arsenal located at Kotovo, Novgorod Oblast was attacked by Ukrainian drones and Kotovo residents were evacuated to nearby Okulovka as a precaution.[32]
On 22nd April 2025, the 51st arsenal located at Barsovo, Vladimir Oblast suffered an explosion followed by fires[33] and 450 residents[34] were evacuated from nearby towns.[35]
Extensive fire in and near the 102nd GRAU Arsenal at Pugachevo on 16 May 2018
GRAU indices are of the form ⟨number⟩⟨letter⟩⟨number⟩, sometimes with a further suffix ⟨letter⟩⟨number⟩. They may be followed by a specially assigned codename. For example "2 S 19 Msta-S", the 2S19 Msta self-propelled howitzer, has the index 2S19, without suffix; Msta-S is the codename.
Several common misconceptions surround the scope and originating body of these indices. The GRAU designation is not an industrial designation, nor is it assigned by the design bureau. In addition to its GRAU designation, a given piece of equipment could have a design name, an industrial name and a service designation.
The first part of a GRAU index is a number indicating which of the several main categories of equipment a given item belongs to. The second part, a Cyrillic character, indicates the subcategory. The third part, a number, indicates the specific model. The optional suffix can be used to differentiate variants of the same model.
6P: Firearms (6P1, the 7.62 mm AKM, and 6P41/6P41M, PKP)
6Sh: Firearm equipment (6Sh5, a rifle sling; 6Sh92, tactical vest; 6Sh104, SVD/VSS vest for sniper and backpack with rain cover and 2 side MOLLE pouches; 6Sh105, normal or digital tactical vest; 6Sh112, MOLLE tactical vest for PKM/PKP machine-gunner)
6T: Firearm equipment (6T2, Samozhenkov's carriage for PKS machine gun)
6Ts: Sights (6Ts1, the PSO-1 sight for the Dragunov sniper rifle)
^A team of authors. Volume 12. Chapter III "Soviet military chronology" // Soviet Armed Forces Review Annual / Ed. George M. Mellinger. — Academic International Press, 1993. — P. 60.
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