A Russian soldier has posted a video of what he said showed the burnt remains of a Ukrainian HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) strike on the self-propelled artillery systems of Vladimir Putin‘s troops.
Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian internal affairs adviser, posted on X (formerly Twitter) the soldier’s footage about the fate of two Russian 2S9 Nona-S self-propelled guns that had been destroyed in Makiivka, in the Donetsk oblast.
The two-minute, 49-second clip shows an unnamed soldier addressing a camera he is holding as he walks along and talks about a Ukrainian missile strike on the Nona systems, which have played a key role for both sides in the war. The video has not been independently verified, and Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email for comment.
Interspersed with drone footage by Ukraine’s forces of the strikes on the systems, the soldier said how “this is the area where the crew died.”
“You can see the damage here; the metal’s melted,” he said, pointing to the destroyed remnants of the artillery system and a large crater. “No one was left alive.” Regarding the deaths, he said, “it’s war, it can’t be helped,” adding that there would be eternal memory for his killed comrades.
The soldier showed off the remains of the second Nona system and described how Ukrainian footage showed the crew jumping into the air after the strike.
“They were spotted,” the soldier said. “That’s why you can’t leave equipment out in open places like this—not with a full crew.”
He then pointed to a deep hole and shrapnel left by the HIMARS strike, as well as the remains of a turret that had flown into the air upon impact.
Ukraine’s armed forces have previously released footage of HIMARS strikes on the Nona-S mortar carriers. As of Saturday, Russian forces had lost 38 of them since the start of the war. This is according to Oryx, a website which counts equipment losses of both sides using open sources.
The U.S.-supplied HIMARS have given Ukraine extra capability on the battlefield, and this week, Kyiv released footage appearing to show their use in a strike on a Russian “command center” in the occupied southern Kherson region.
As Ukraine steps up its longer-range strikes on Russian targets, the U.S. has agreed to supply Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). These have a range close to 200 miles and could Kyiv greater capability to strike far behind enemy lines in the south and the east, including Crimea.