The U.S. provision of M777 155mm howitzers to the Ukrainian army seems to be not having the effect the Pentagon claimed it would. The Russians say they are picking them off. The Russian Defense Ministry uploaded a video showing the crews of Giatsint-S 152mm self-propelled artillery guns wiping out a Ukrainian unit of U.S.-made M777 155mm howitzers in their special military operation in Ukraine, TASS reported this morning. “In the process of fulfilling its counter-battery warfare tasks, a battery of Giatsint-S systems eliminated a unit of U.S.-made M-777 155mm towed howitzers,” the ministry said in a statement.
TASS doesn’t say when this action happened, nor does it link to the video. A Russian-language TASS report of May 18 however, included drone video of the targeting of a Ukrainian artillery unit which is really quite instructive. The video shows at least three guns out in the open being targeted by fire (whether it’s from a drone or artillery is not clear). When they attempt to hide in nearby woods, they get hit again. “As soon as the Ukrainian militants concentrated tractors and guns in the forest, artillery hit there. All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
