HIMARS Strike Blows Up Russia’s Deadly Giatsint-S Artillery System: Video

Video shared on social media purportedly shows Ukraine’s armed forces striking a high-value Russian target using the U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

“Ukrainian HIMARS strike sending a Russian Giatsint-S artillery system into the underworld,” posted the X (formerly Twitter) pro-Ukrainian account of War is Translated, which shares video and reports about the conflict, next to the clip.

The 37-second drone footage gives an aerial view of the target in a field surrounded by trees being blown up and smoke billowing into the sky. Before the blast, soldiers can be seen running away from the site, which the X account of Neonhandrail geolocated to Novokrasnyanka, in Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast.

The pro-Ukrainian Telegram channel MYSYAGIN posted the video, adding that the destruction was caused by “tungsten carbide balls” fired by the HIMARS.” That “worked out very nicely,” added the post, according to a translation.

Newsweek has been unable to verify the authenticity of the video, which as of Tuesday had been viewed over 100,000 times. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry by email for comment.

First produced in 1976, the Giatsint-S can hit targets at longer ranges and at a higher rate of fire than the more widely produced 2S3 Akatsiya 152 mm self-propelled gun.

It can carry 30 152 mm rounds with a range of up to 20 miles and can fire cluster, smoke and nuclear projectiles. It is used by both the Ukrainian and Russian armies.

Since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia had lost 41 of the artillery systems, according to the website Oryx, which uses open sources to track losses on both sides in the war.

The footage has emerged as the U.S. is set to send Ukraine another missile system, which Kyiv hopes will make a difference on the battlefield.

Doug Bush, the assistant secretary of the U.S. military for acquisition, logistics, and technology, said that the military is ready to send some of its long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) armed with cluster munitions.

He told Bloomberg that the the U.S. military “has been postured for this eventuality for a while,” and that “we’re ready when and if the president decides to do this.”

Cluster-armed ATACMS have a range of up to 190 miles and can carry up to 950 cluster munitions, which would boost Ukraine’s capabilities in the counteroffensive that they have been undertaking since around June 4.

During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s visit to Washington last month, President Joe Biden announced a further trance of military support for Kyiv.

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