This is the incredible moment a Ukrainian missile reportedly wiped out one of Vladimir Putin’s Grad systems.
A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supplied by the United States appears to destroy the multiple rocket launcher, reported to be a BM-21 Grad system, in Zaporizhzhia in the unverified footage.
Video of the attack was posted on Telegram by Yuri Butusov, the editor of Ukrainian news outlet Censor.net.
The BM-21 Grad is recognised as the most numerous and widely deployed multiple launch rocket system on the planet, according to Action on Armed Violence.
A single launcher can fire 400 rockets over a wide area in under 20 seconds, with its name “Grad” well-suited to its meaning in Russian – “hail”.
It was first used in March 1969 during border clashes between China and the Soviet Union. Russia is the only manufacturer of the BM-21 Grad, which is said to be “notoriously” inaccurate when it comes to hitting a target, according to Action on Armed Violence.
Newsweek reports that Ukraine has made previous strikes on BM-21 Grad systems, including near the city of Kreminna in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine.
Ukraine destroyed a number of Soviet-era BM-21 Grads near Bakhmut, Donetsk, in July. HIMARS was used by Ukraine to cripple a Buk missile launcher in October.
Footage of the latest reported attack on a Russian Grad system comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine escalated.
US President Joe Biden has rushed out billions of dollars more in military aid before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Russia, Ukraine and their global allies are scrambling to put their side in the best possible position for any changes Trump may bring to US policy in the wider war, which has ground on for almost three years.
The president-elect has insisted in recent days that Russia and Ukraine immediately reach a ceasefire and said Kyiv should probably prepare to receive less US military aid.
A Ukrainian strike-drone company commander, fighting in Russia’s Kursk region with the 47th Brigade, said: “As long as we have ammunition, as long as we have weapons, as long as we have some means to defeat the enemy, we will fight.”
The commander, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, added: “But, when all means run out, you must understand, we will be destroyed very quickly.”
Washington has sent Kyiv a total of £48.6billion ($62bn) in military aid since Russia widened its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
