Explosive video footage purportedly shows the moment a Ukrainian drone destroyed a Russian military vehicle used to coordinate vital air defences.
Ukraine’s ‘Black Forest’ Reconnaissance Brigade claimed to have struck what it said was the command-and-staff vehicle for a Soviet-era S-300 surface-to-air missile system.
Video published on Sunday showed the moment of impact from above as a loitering drone hit the side of the truck with devastating effect, sending smoke billowing from the wreckage.
open image in galleryIn a social media post, the brigade said it would have been a “very painful blow” to the Russian forces, and destroying it would allow Ukrainian vehicles to fly deeper into Russia to hit strategic targets.
It added: “They are also stuffed with rare electronics, are damn expensive, and it takes years to train the crew. An approach on such a target is a very painful blow for the enemy.”
The 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, formed after the dissolution of the USSR, operates artillery and drone systems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the brigade has also used British and US-made unmanned drones to hunt Russian targets behind enemy lines.
The Russian vehicle appeared to be a 5K76 command-and-control vehicle, or its more modern 5K76M variant, according to Ukraine’s official fundraising platform United24.
open image in galleryThe 5K76 serves as a mobile command centre for the S-300, also known by its Nato reporting name SA-10 Grumble.
The S-300s were a family of surface-to-air missile systems developed by Russia, then the Soviet Union, in the late 1970s and can fire missiles at incoming targets up to 40 kilometres from the command centre.
Use peaked in 2000 as Russia fielded around 1,900 launchers. That had dropped to about 800 by 2017, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Some were sent to Crimea after 2014.
There is no publicly available cost estimate for the 5K76.
open image in galleryThe US and Ukraine are separately reported to be working on modernising the Ukrainian S-300 air defence systems as Russia steps up its attacks on residential hubs nationwide.
Kyiv has repeatedly asked Western allies for more air defences to protect critical infrastructure and civilian areas from frequent Russian missile and drone attacks.
In highest demand are the American Patriot interceptors, key to defending against a nightly barrage of Russian ballistic missile strikes.
But the Iran war has drained arsenals in the US and the Gulf, and some European countries are holding onto missiles they may need for their own defence.
Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.) told PBS last week: “There’s a joint US-Ukrainian effort going on to essentially retrofit or upgrade the old S-300 missiles or a newer variant of the S-300 and give it better capabilities.
open image in gallery“And so that should come online near the end of this year. But, again, we’re talking 100 or a couple of hundred a year that could be produced.”
He said those variants could “help fill this Patriot gap”.
US president Donald Trump offered Ukraine the right to make its own Patriot interceptors in July, but later reneged, saying the US has “not agreed” to such an arrangement.
Russia has tried to deter the US from giving Ukraine the means to defend itself, warning that donating interceptors would amount to a direct escalation. Moscow has said it would delay the chance of peace.