How 'Reckless' Russian Command Led to Mass Casualty HIMARS Strike on Beach

Russian troops reportedly killed in a strike on a beach had been lulled into a false sense of security because of their distance from the front line, a Russian military blogger has said.

Ukraine's military said that a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) strike successfully hit around 200 soldiers on the Black Sea island of Dzharylhach in Ukraine's southern Kherson region.

Russian forces had set up camps on Dzharylhach, around 50 miles from the front line, for degraded units to recover and train, according to an assessment in July by the Institute for the Study of War.

Undated drone footage posted this week shows a grouping of Russian troops on the shore of the island when a large explosion is then seen before the video ends.

The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Facebook post that the strike followed information from "underground" sources. The X (formerly Twitter) account of the pro-Ukrainian user Tendar, said that the Russian staging area had been scouted by a Ukrainian drone and hammered by five HIMARS missiles.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry about Ukraine's claims, which have not been independently verified.

However, Russian military bloggers gave their views of the circumstances of the strike. The account Rybar said that complacency was a reason why Russian troops were able to be targeted so far from the battlefield.

"Most likely, the military personnel on the island had relaxed because of a sense of imagined security—80 km from the front line," said the post.

"The terrain is inconspicuous, there are no tents in an open field or warehouses with ammunition," Rybar wrote. "But the enemy took advantage of the reckless move."

Rybar said that the strike showed the need for Russian personnel to take "necessary precautions" even in the rear of war operations, adding the need to avoid formations that could "reveal positions."

Another milblogger with the handle Military Informant said that the footage was likely taken by a Leleka drone and showed the kind of range HIMARS can operate at.

The milblogger cited a "lack of training" among Russian personnel and said it was significant that in the second year of the war, troops were still being grouped in open areas within missile range.

"The only thing missing is the parade," the blogger added.

HIMARS has been a key weapon for Ukraine in the war and Kyiv frequently shares video footage of the systems in action. Former U.S. Army General Mark Hertling in July described the weapons as a "game changer."