Russian Howitzers Obliterated in Ukraine Counteroffensive Caught on Video

The moment in which two Russian self-propelled howitzers were purportedly destroyed in an explosive strike during Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive in the eastern Kharkiv region was captured on video.

Ukraine Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) shared the video of the artillery strike on Twitter on Thursday. The Russian howitzers can initially be seen from afar sitting on an empty stretch of land before they are struck and engulfed in smoke and flames.

The TDF, a branch of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that consists of Ukrainian volunteers, wrote in the Twitter post that one of its aerial reconnaissance teams located the howitzers. Artillery from Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Brigade, a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, "swiftly took them out," the post said.

Ukraine has retaken considerable territory from Russia in recent weeks as it conducts counteroffensives on two fronts: eastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson. General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of Ukraine's military, said Sunday that his forces had regained 3,000 square kilometers of territory from the Russians since the start of September, while Ukrainian troops had pushed to within 50 kilometers, about 30 miles, of the Ukraine-Russia border in Kharkiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited Kharkiv this week, said in an address Thursday that nearly the entire region had been freed from Russian control.

"It was an unprecedented movement of our warriors—Ukrainians once again managed to do what many considered impossible," he said. "On the first day of active operations alone, our troops advanced 19 kilometers. 110 kilometers were covered in five days of fighting. In total, almost 400 settlements were de-occupied. The 150,000 Ukrainians who remained in this territory feel again now what an ordinary, safe, normal life is like."

While Russia has been losing ground to Ukraine, it has also reportedly lost a host of military vehicles and equipment.

Open-source tracker Oryx, which has been keeping tabs on Russian equipment since the start of the war on February 24, said Ukraine's forces had captured 388 pieces of Russian equipment between September 7 and 11, according to the Ukrainian news outlet TSN. The equipment included 49 tanks, 24 armored personnel carriers and two planes. Of the pieces that Russia lost, 200 "are in good condition."

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) also shared images on Telegram and Twitter Monday showing what it said was arsenals of ammunition left behind by fleeing Russian troops in Kharkiv.

"And we will definitely use them as intended—against the enemy," the SSU wrote, according to a translation.

Newsweek reached out to Russia's defense ministry for comment.