Ukraine wipes out Russian military base with NATO-supplied howitzer - VIDEO

UKRAINE has blown up a Russian commander military base using a NATO-supplied howitzer weapon, footage has shown.

By TOM WATLING

13:29, Tue, May 24, 2022 | UPDATED: 14:36, Tue, May 24, 2022

The Russian base exploded into flames after a direct hit from 12 miles away by Ukrainian forces (Image: DAILY MAIL )

Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade claimed on Monday they had successfully hit the Russian base and destroyed a military SUV marked with 'Z', killing several enemy soldiers in the process. The strike was carried out from 12 miles away and demonstrates Ukraine’s use of new NATO-supplied offensive weapons that President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for over the last few weeks. 

The Ukrainian brigade said on 23rd May: “From the first shot: The 'Transcarpathian Legion' hit a rashist target with a NATO howitzer from a distance of over 20 kilometres.

“Artillerymen of the 128th Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade hit the base of the command staff of one of the units of the Russian Army.

“A military SUV marked with 'Z' and several nearby rashists were destroyed. The shot was fired from a howitzer that arrived in Ukraine as part of NATO aid.

“A time-lapse drone video shows the arrival of a 155-calibre projectile and the moment of its powerful explosion.

"The target was over 20 kilometres away so an accurate shot clearly demonstrates the high accuracy of the latest weapons that have arrived and continue to enter the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

 

Ukraine successfully blew up a Russian command base using a howitzer weapon (Image: GETTY )

The US-made M198 howitzer is one of the first supplies of offensive military weapons supplied to Ukraine as the war has dragged on. 

It’s part of a new NATO strategy to equip Ukraine with the weapons it needs to repel Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region. 

Western experts feared Russia’s superior artillery would prove costly the longer the conflict continued, and offensive weapons were seen as a means of levelling the playing field. 

The M198 is capable of firing four rounds a minute to a distance of 12 miles with a high degree of accuracy, allowing the Ukrainian forces to target enemy forces away from the front line. 

READ MORE: How Putin's inner circle are losing confidence AND power [INSIGHT] 

Zelensky has made repeated pleas to the West for more offensive weapons to fight off Russia (Image: GETTY )

Western experts feared Russian's superior equipment arsenal would prove costly to Ukraine (Image: EXPRESS )

A senior defence department official said at a Pentagon press briefing last week that they believed the howitzers were “absolutely helping [Ukraine] regain some momentum and take back some territory”. 

The official said: "You're already seeing the Ukrainians being willing to go on the counteroffensive in the Donbas [region of Ukraine]. 

“They are taking back some towns that the Russians have taken in the past. 

"We do believe that the howitzers … are having an impact, particularly in Kharkiv. Now is that the only reason? 

“I don't think we would go that far to say that, but we do believe that the systems they're getting — not just the US systems but the systems from other countries — are absolutely helping them regain some momentum and to take back some territory."

But a Russian journalist and military expert claimed Russian forces were targeting Ukrainian bases where the howitzers were being stored. 

Mikhail Khodaryonok said on Russian TV: “They will be searched for, discovered, and hit.

“Let’s consider, we have every reason to believe this too, that in the very near future all that will remain of these howitzers, will be memories. 

“I think our armed forces have been given this objective and that in the near future it will be accomplished.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1615163/Ukraine-NATO-supplied-howitzer-missiles-destroy-Russian-military-base-vn