HIMARS Strikes Russian Troops Hiding in Forest: Video

Russian troops hiding in a forest in occupied southern Ukraine were killed in a Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) attack, Kyiv’s military said Friday.

“The UAV crew of the 73rd Maritime Center of Special Forces discovered the location of a concentration of Russian forces while conducting reconnaissance in the southern direction,” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SSO) said in a post on Telegram, sharing footage of the attack.

“The SSO adjusted HIMARS fire at the location of the Russians in the southern sector,” the post continued. “As a result of the strike, the Russian military suffered significant losses.”

The U.S.-supplied HIMARS has allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia’s most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. The rocket system has been used extensively throughout Russia’s war with Ukraine, which is now in its third year. Washington has supplied the Ukrainians with at least 39 HIMARS since the conflict began.

The footage shows an explosion followed by thick clouds of black smoke. Newsweek couldn’t independently verify when or where the footage was taken and has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The video was also shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, which wrote: “HIMARS says hi to the occupiers on the southern axis.”

Ukraine is reported to have targeted groups of Russian troops using HIMARS on a number of occasions. In October 2023, footage purportedly showed the aftermath of a HIMARS strike on a Russian battalion.

A Ukrainian open-source intelligence project, DeepState, reported that the attack was carried out on a training ground located near the village of Podo-Kalynivka in occupied Kherson. The BBC News Russian service, citing a source in the Ukrainian special services, reported that the attack took place in the same location.

Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli reported that at least 60 Russian troops were killed in the Kherson attack.

In another incident, Serhiy Bratchuk, a Ukrainian official in southern Ukraine, said Kyiv’s forces attacked a training area for Russian troops close to the Donetsk city of Volnovakha with HIMARS.

The strike killed around 65 Russian soldiers near the village of Trudivske, where units of Russia’s 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade were stationed, Bratchuk, said on Telegram in February. The BBC Russian service reported at the time that Kyiv’s military used two missiles in the strike.

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