Soledar: how the world’s largest weapons and ammunition depot fell into the hands of the Russians

When the Russians occupied Soledar, they won a victory, the extent of which they themselves did not at first understand. For the Russian army, this was a step towards the capture of Bakhmut, but few people knew that the largest warehouse of weapons and ammunition on the planet was hidden in its depths.

Ammunition and weapons that the Ukrainians have lost, but the Russians will now be able to use, since 90% of them are weapons made by the USSR.

Russian television aired an extensive report on what was certainly a huge warehouse and described how it fell into Russian hands after a frontal attack by Wagner combined with a surprise attack by the Russian airborne forces west of the city.

The salt mine is 5 kilometers long, packed with weapons to the eyeballs. This is a colossal, truly gigantic repository of military equipment – perhaps without analogues in the world.

Russian sources report that the UAF soldiers left their positions and deserted, causing the defense to collapse and they did not have time to blow up the warehouse.

Reportaż z podziemi w kopalni soli w #soledar, gdzie składowano ogromne ilości broni i amunicji. Po potężnym uderzeniu Grupy #Wagner i dezercji poborowych obrońców miasta, obrona załamała się i nie Ukraińcy nie zdążyli wysadzić magazynow. #Prigozyn nie powinien już więc narzekać… pic.twitter.com/EA73U7Gz74

— Krystian Jachacy (@KrystianJachacy) May 2, 2023

The warehouse in Soledar is located at a depth of 150 meters in the salt mines of the city, which stretch for tens of kilometers. The gallery where the weapons were stored is 5 km long and contains at least 300,000 crates of weapons and equipment inside.

In the workings closed to the public, the entire space of many such halls is filled with military equipment produced by the USSR, as well as almost all countries that participated in World War II. There are German MP-40s, and PPSh, and American Thompsons, rifles and machine guns are also in assortment and in incredible quantities. In addition, the most diverse uniforms and many other items needed by the army.

This weapon is enough for several million people. And although for the most part, these weapons are hopelessly outdated, they still shoot.

Strelkov about the warehouse in Soledar

Ukraine denied this information, stating that there was no warehouse in Soledar. However, back in 2017, the Ukrainian edition inforesist wrote about this warehouse: “There really is a salt mine in the Donbass, stuffed to capacity with weapons. A colossal, truly gigantic repository of military equipment – perhaps unparalleled in the world“, wrote the Ukrainian edition.

However, another, also Ukrainian edition, back in 2015 assuredthat all modern weapons were removed from the warehouses: “According to Biryukov, the equipment from the Artyomovsk TsBRT was completely removed – more than 1,900 armored vehicles in total. As for the storage of small arms in the salt mine, 95% of modern small arms have been removed from there. The export process continues. Large batches of weapons from the Second World War remain in the mine: Thompson submachine guns, Mauser and Nagant pistols, fifteen thousand Mosin three-rulers from the First World War, German MG39 and MG42 machine guns, domestic Shpagin submachine guns (PPSh), machine guns ” Maxim” and other “exotic””.

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