Ukraine Bombing Russian Targets in Bakhmut Captured in Dramatic Video

A Ukrainian drone captured multiple explosions on a Russian-occupied building in Bakhmut, according to a dramatic video shared by a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, an American think tank.

After months of Russian efforts to seize the city in the eastern region of Donetsk, Bakhmut remains a crucial battleground on the war's front lines ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. The fighting over the city continues to escalate, even as Russia has seen a heavy loss to its troops. But the Ukrainians refuse to retreat and are using American technology in their attacks on Russian forces.

In March, the Ukrainian military started using American-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) with its bombs. The Ukrainians are using their limited supply of JDAM to fire at Russian troops without experiencing close combat. Normal bombs are equipped with JDAM guided by GPS. JDAM is used to guide bombs that on their own would be unguided. The equipment also allows for undirected bombs to be transformed into a "smart bomb" that navigates to a preplanned target once deployed.

One such attack targeting Russian positions took place in Bakhmut on Tuesday, when a series of four JDAM-equipped bombs exploded and disappeared in a plume of dark, thick smoke after hitting a multistory building occupied by Russian forces.

"Video of a possible JDAM strike in Bakhmut filmed by a UAV from Ukraine's 77th Airmobile Brigade," the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Rob Lee tweeted Tuesday night with the video.

In the video, Ukrainian surveillance drone footage shows four bombs hitting the building in Bakhmut.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek that the building could be serving as a headquarters of some sort.

"The explosion is large and seemingly precise, indicating an air-delivered munition," Cancian said. "Apparently, the U.S. has sent the extended-range version of JDAM. That would mean that the Ukrainian aircraft did not need to fly over the target."

The Ukrainian military has received a limited number of JDAM and JDAM-ER—an extended-range version of JDAM—from the United States. This past December, Ukraine received an undisclosed number of "precision aerial munitions" later identified as JDAM as part of a $1.85 billion U.S. military aid package.

JDAM-ER kits, which can modify a bomb to travel 45 miles, were also sent to Ukraine. As Lee's video on Twitter depicted, the JDAM bombs targeted a preprogrammed destination.

Cancian said the bombs used in Tuesday's explosion were likely equipped with the extended range JDAM, allowing the Ukrainians to attack Russian forces from a less vulnerable position.

The JDAM kits, valued at roughly $24,000 apiece, are considered "inexpensive," according to The New York Times. JDAM maker Boeing says on its website that it has made more than 500,000 of the kits for the United States and its allies.

The April attack was not the first time the Ukrainian military has unleashed JDAM equipment on its Russian enemies. In March, video news organization Crux confirmed that Ukrainians were deploying the bombs after learning how to fit the kit on their equipment.

On March 10, Crux reported that Ukraine used a JDAM "smart bomb" for the first time when the military dropped a bomb equipped with a JDAM guidance kit near Bakhmut. According to the video shared by Crux, JDAM technology allows Ukrainian fighters to hit targets in the same range as an M31 rocket fired by the U.S.-made High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, but with much bigger bombs.