HIMARS Strike Hits Dozens of Russian Soldiers

Tens of Russian soldiers have died close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine after Kyiv attacked a training ground with U.S.-supplied HIMARS, according to a Ukrainian official and media reports.

Ukrainian forces fired on a training area for Russian troops close to the Donetsk city of Volnovakha with a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, on Tuesday, said Serhiy Bratchuk, a Ukrainian official in southern Ukraine.

Around 65 Russian soldiers were killed at the training ground near the village of Trudivske, Bratchuk said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainian military used two missiles in the strike, the BBC's Russian service reported on Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources.

Units of Russia's 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade were stationed near Trudivske, Bratchuk said.

Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian military and Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Bratchuk posted two videos he said showed the "consequences" of the HIMARS attack, showing what look to be dozens of bodies strewn across a field. Images appearing to show the same site have circulated widely across social media.

It is not possible to independently verify the footage and the images. Newsweek has not included a link to the materials due to their graphic nature.

Several prominent Russian military bloggers referenced the alleged strike, with Rybar, an account with more than one million subscribers and links to Russia's Defense Ministry, describing the reported attack near Trudivske as a "tragic event."

"The issue of formations of personnel in zones where the enemy is conducting active reconnaissance and where crowded people can become targets for high-precision munitions remains relevant," another Russian military blogger with a significant following wrote on Tuesday. "I hope conclusions will be drawn."

Volnovakha and Trudivske are in Russian-controlled territory in south Donetsk, to the southeast of the embattled town of Vuhledar and the frontlines sweeping from Donetsk to the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Both regions are annexed by Russia, but this is not recognized by the international community and Moscow does not fully control the regions.

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, giving Ukraine the opportunity 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."

Ukraine has been using HIMARS since the summer of 2022, and the U.S. has sent 39 HIMARS to the country since February 2022, according to Pentagon documents.