Ukraine’s Armed Forces used U.S.-supplied long-range weapons to target a training ground used by Russian troops, it has been reported as a video showed the aftermath of the strike.
Drone footage shared on social media purports to show explosions at the site in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, which is partly occupied by Russia.
Troops and military equipment can be seen on the ground before explosions occur simultaneously kicking up balls of dust. The undated video has not been independently verified, and Newsweek has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
This illustrative image from 2017 shows a U.S. Army Tactical Missile System firing a missile into the East Sea during a South Korea-U.S. joint missile drill. Social-media users posted video on October 15, 2024 of an alleged Ukrainian ATACMS strike against Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine.
South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images
“Destruction of enemy personnel by hitting the training ground with a cluster ATACMS,” said the post of Ukrainian Telegram channel Division Tivaz next to the video.
The U.S.-built ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) manufactured by Lockheed Martin can be fired from the M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers and can strike targets as far away as 180 miles, giving Ukrainian forces the ability to strike well behind Russia’s front lines.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky first confirmed in October 2023 that his forces had used ATACMS on the battlefield against Russia in an operation that had been “executed very accurately” without giving any more details.
Drone footage in May purported to show dozens of Russian soldiers being targeted by ATACMS in Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
The latest clip was also shared by the X account War Translated, which cited how the Russian Telegram channel Military Informer had commented, “the enemy is using a system similar to the Russian ‘drone + tactical missile complex.'”
“Fortunately, scaling such strikes is hindered by insufficient missile supplies from Western countries, as well as the still-existing ban on strikes deep within Russian territory,” Military Informer added.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces struck a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region with an ATACMS cluster missile, where Russian military personnel were undergoing training.
Here’s how the Russian channel “Military Informer” commented on the strike:
“The enemy is using a system… pic.twitter.com/u1YpUFhXcR— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) October 15, 2024
The X account CJ posted next to the same video clip, “what does U.S. aid to Ukraine look like? Grid square deletion in occupied-Ukraine,” adding,” Russian training camp gets hit by hundreds of submunitions from an ATACMS.
“Unprotected troops in the open stand little chance due to the dispersion/volume of shrapnel,” the post added. Military analyst Rob Lee also described how there had been “a Ukrainian ATACMS cluster munition strike on Russian soldiers at a training range.”
However, the pro-Ukrainian X account Special Kherson Cat suggested another U.S.-supplied weapon may have been used. “Some (or actually a lot of) Ukrainian Telegram channels have a strong desire to call every HIMARS cluster munition strike an ATACMS strike, forgetting that M30 cluster missile exists,” read the post.
Next to it were four videos of strikes, including the one allegedly in Zaporizhzhia, which the post said was “more likely” to be a M30 cluster munitions strike as ATACMS have “more bomblets” and would cover a greater radius.
