Video Shows First Confirmed Destruction of HIMARS MLRS in Ukraine

Russia has destroyed a Ukrainian-operated HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) close to the eastern frontlines, new footage appears to show, in what would be the first confirmed loss of the U.S.-donated multiple rocket launchers for Kyiv.

Footage circulated by Russian sources, and shared by open-source intelligence accounts, appears to show the moment Moscow fires on the HIMARS with a missile, followed quickly by visible flames and billowing smoke.

Russian sources said the Kremlin struck the HIMARS close to the village of Nikanorivka, between 25 and 30 miles west of the current front lines northwest of the captured city of Avdiivka and southwest of the Russian-controlled settlement of Bakhmut.

Newsweek could not independently verify this footage, and has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment via email.

The U.S. has donated 39 HIMARS to Kyiv as part of more than $44 billion worth of security aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine has lauded the HIMARS, publishing clips it says shows successful strikes on crucial Russian assets like military bases, infrastructure and ammunition stores since the summer of 2022.

Each HIMARS is a modern missile launcher mounted on a truck, and its range depends on the type of missile fired.

Since Ukraine began using HIMARS against Russian forces, Moscow has frequently claimed to have destroyed the artillery systems on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s claims were never independently verified. Footage published in mid-February had appeared to show two HIMARS returning to the U.S. for repairs, sporting varying degrees of damage.

In late February, Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that Kyiv’s HIMARS targeted a large group of Russian servicemen in the Donetsk village of Olenivka. Up to 19 troops were killed, Ukraine’s military said, without specifying the use of HIMARS.

A Ukrainian official said last month that around 65 Russian soldiers were killed after a Kyiv-operated HIMARS fired on a training area for Russian troops close to the Donetsk city of Volnovakha. Shortly after, Ukrainian sources suggested HIMARS targeted another group of Russian troops in the southern Kherson region.

In mid-June 2023, Russian military bloggers said that a number of Russian soldiers were killed near the Luhansk city of Kreminna after the troops gathered for a commander’s address, allowing Ukraine to fire on the fighters with HIMARS.

“They stood in the open air for two hours listening to the speech,” an anonymous Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Post at the time. “That is enough time to fix them, transport the HIMARS, enter the coordinates and hit them.”