Strana 28
Russian Depot Exploded
On Tuesday, April 22, an explosion occurred
in one of the largest and most modern
ammunition depots in Russia—the 51st GRAU
depot in Vladimir region, 60 km northeast of
Moscow. It’s unclear if this was the target of
a Ukrainian attack. Russia claims the explosion
was caused by employee negligence. Ironically,
this depot was built and heavily promoted to
calm public fears after a series of ammo depot
explosions in Russia in the past. Needless
to say, the depot’s construction involved
corruption and large-scale embezzlement of
state funds.
Whatever the cause, the depot, containing
over 100,000 tons of munitions, exploded, and
secondary explosions continued for several
days. Several villages in the area had to be
evacuated because munitions were flying
within a 10-km radius.
In retaliation for the depot explosion, Russia
did the only thing it knows—attack civilian
targets in Ukraine. On Thursday, April 24,
it launched a massive attack using 145
kamikaze drones and 70 cruise and ballistic
missiles. The targets were mainly Dnipro
and Kyiv. Ukrainian air defense destroyed 48
missiles and 64 drones, and another 68 fell
for other reasons (either decoys or due to
electronic jamming). Still, many projectiles
struck residential areas, killing 11 people and
injuring 113.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
later stated that one of the deadly strikes on
Kyiv was carried out by a North Korean missile
containing 116 Western components, mainly
from the US.
According to a joint investigative report
by Reuters and the Open Source Center, it is
North Korean supplies that allow Russia to
continue the war. Between September 2023
and March 2025, North Korea sent 15,809
shipping containers of military materials to
Russia. North Korean shells now make up, on
average, 50 percent of all the ammunition fired
by Russian artillery. In addition, North Korea
has supplied Russia with about 150 ballistic
missiles, 120 heavy self-propelled guns, and
120 multiple rocket launchers. Last but not
least, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has
also sent 14,000 soldiers to help Russia in
the Kursk region. And he isn’t doing it out of
love for Putin. Moscow provided North Korea
with technological assistance worth tens of
billions of dollars. Just a reminder: North
Korea is still under UN sanctions, and Russia,
as a permanent member of the UN Security
Council, should be enforcing those sanctions,
not violating them.
Perhaps this is why Russian propaganda (and
the useful idiots outside Russia) long denied
and questioned North Korea’s involvement in
the illegal war against Ukraine. But exactly
the same thing happened as in 2014 when
Russia initially denied the “little green men” in
Crimea and then Putin decorated them. Now,
at the end of the observation period, Putin
officially thanked his “North Korean friends”
for their solidarity, brotherhood, and heroism
in the fighting in the Kursk region. North Korea
also confirmed the deployment of its soldiers,
and Kim Jong-un called it a “sacred mission.”
Civilian Casualties
Unfortunately, the disgusting so-called
“human safari” in Kherson continued. Russian
drone operators there are boasting about
attacks on civilians. On Sunday, April 13th, they
dropped a grenade on an 86-year-old woman,
who died from her injuries on the spot.
On Thursday, April 17th, an ambulance was
hit in Kherson, seriously injuring the 61-year-
old driver and a 65-year-old paramedic. And
on Tuesday, April 22nd, the Russians dropped
grenades from a drone on the grounds of
a hospital in this Ukrainian city. Defense
against such attacks is very difficult, as the
occupiers are right on the opposite bank of
the Dnipro River. In total, Russian attacks on
Ukrainian cities have claimed the lives of more
than 13,000 civilians since the beginning of
the invasion, including 618 children. This sad
statistic was valid for the reporting period, and
has certainly increased since then. Russian
attacks on civilians have intensified since the
inauguration of American President Trump and
are the worst since the start of the war—despite
attempts to end the war, which the Kremlin
sabotages. Moscow is showing that it is not
interested in peace, but in killing Ukrainians
and conquering their territory. However,
the second goal is increasingly elusive. During
the reporting period, Russian territorial gains
were minimal.
Although Russia attacks along the entire front
line, it uses small groups of soldiers without
armored vehicles and suffers heavy losses.
In April, it captured 176 square kilometers
of Ukrainian territory, at the cost of 36,000
dead and wounded soldiers. It also lost 4,800
vehicles. At this rate, Russia would conquer
Ukraine in the year 2256, and it would cost
them 101 million dead and wounded soldiers.
UKRAINE
An ambulance hit in Kherson on April 17th.
An explosion of the 51st GRAU ammunition depot near Moscow.
INFO Eduard28
June 2025