Ukrainian forces launched a significant attack on a Russian training ground in Luhansk region’s village of Kuban, using three US-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles. The strike, approximately 82 km from the frontline, resulted in significant damage and over 100 casualties, demonstrating Ukraine’s ability to strike deep into Russian-occupied territory.
The use of ATACMS missiles, a long-range weapon system, underscores the strategic importance of this operation and its potential to influence the course of the conflict.
erial drone footage shared by military analysts on Wednesday appears to show dozens of Russian soldiers being targeted with U.S.-supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, at a training ground in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
The clip was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by a volunteer with GeoConfirmed, an OSINT account that geolocates visual content from the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Ukrainian ATACMS strike, with 4 ATACMS, including one dud, hitting a Russian training area in Mozhnyakivka, Luhansk Oblast. Based on the footage the losses will be significant. 80 km behind the front line,” GeoConfirmed said, sharing stills showing the impact of the first strike.
The U.S. recently secretly sent Ukraine long-range ATACMS capable of hitting targets as far away as 300 kilometers (186 miles). Newsweek couldn’t independently verify when or where the footage was filmed, and has contacted Russia’s defense ministry for comment by email.
The video was also shared by Russian military analyst Ian Matveev, who estimated potential casualties to be in the dozens.
“Russian officers again took the soldiers out for training, to stand in a crowd next to the trucks. But they forgot that in addition to the cluster HIMARS, the Ukrainian Armed Forces now also have cluster ATACMS, which fly even further,” wrote Matveev.
“The result was a strike by three missiles, the number of deaths is unknown, but most likely the total losses are measured in dozens. Everything happened in the vicinity of the village of Rohove, Luhansk region, 100 kilometers from Kupyansk, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces control,” he added.
“The first burst of cluster ammunition hit where the large Russian troop concentration was position. The third strike hit an area with several vehicles hidden in tree lines,” the X account said.
In February, Ukraine was reported to have targeted large groups of Russian servicemen with U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in three separate attacks.
In one of the attacks, Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState reported that Kyiv attacked a training ground located near the village of Podo-Kalynivka in occupied Kherson. The BBC Russian Service, citing a source in the Ukrainian special services, reported that the attack took place in the same location.
Ukrainian publication Zerkalo Nedeli reported that at least 60 Russian troops were killed in the Kherson attack.
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