Howitzer attack in Ukraine isn’t as significant as Russia claims

Russia has crowed about an apparent win over Ukraine, but an expert says satellite footage shows it’s not as significant as the Kremlin is claiming.

Ukrainian soldiers are seen running from Australian and US-supplied M777 howitzers as explosives rain down upon them in a new video out of Moscow.

The series of clips show the distinctive truck-towed cannons taking up position in a field in the region of the Ukrainian city of Luhansk.

A drone overflies the emplacement, dropping a bomblet that sends Ukrainian troops scrambling for cover. Further footage shows Russian explosives raining down on the woodlands where the Ukrainian unit had sought shelter.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has sought to capitalise on the success against such high-profile symbols of international support.

Russians attack a Ukrainian M777 group with a drone dropped munition pic.twitter.com/4tuFqfVOvZ

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 18, 2022

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine,” its statement reads – continuing to avoid the use of the words “war” and “invasion”.

Among its list of recent victories, it included details of the attack.

“Missile troops and artillery have hit 76 command posts, 421 areas of manpower and military equipment concentration, as well as 147 artillery and mortar units at firing positions, including one Ukrainian battery of US-made 155mm M777 howitzers near Podgornoye.”

The attack appears to be an example of Russia learning from its past failures.

The success of Ukrainian drones in locating and guiding attacks onto Russian tank and artillery formations has been a significant element of their successful resistance campaign. Now Moscow appears to be putting its own “suicide drones” into effect.

Drone strike

The Russian army used a high-flying, loitering drone to invisibly observe the M777 battery setting up their positions. Then a flight of Kub loitering munitions – also called suicide drones – fell on the emplacement.

In a video voiceover, a Russian MoD spokesman states: “In the area of the settlement of Podgornoye, Russian crews of uncrewed aerial vehicles and artillery reconnaissance equipment have established the coordinates of the firing position of 155mm M777 howitzers made by the United States, which are used by the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The longer video from the Russian MoD shows that they tracked the movement of at least 3 Ukrainian M777 howitzers before targeting them with a KUB-BLA loitering munition and MLRS fire. Not clear how much damage the MLRS fire caused. https://t.co/eAgXKAvlanpic.twitter.com/rPBxMvVWpY

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) May 18, 2022

“Operators of unmanned aerial vehicles launched a missile attack on the firing position of a battery of American howitzers, as a result of which several guns were damaged.

“After striking with drones, Ukrainian militants attempted to hide in the forest and hide the towed M777 howitzers there.

“As soon as the Ukrainian militants concentrated tractors and guns in the forest, an artillery strike was launched there. All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed. The surviving Ukrainian artillerymen fled.”

Ambitious claims

But former commanding general of United States Army Europe Mark Hertling was not convinced the footage represented a significant victory.

“A UKR M777 is in a firing position, obviously getting set up for a shoot,” he explains of the footage. “The gun is unlimbered (not being towed by its truck). The truck is in the tree line, and there’s a few soldiers walking around the vehicle.

“Then, INCOMING! The round lands! Except, the round doesn’t land ON the M777. It lands nearby.”

He says the bomblet would have had to land on the howitzer to destroy it.

“It doesn’t. It may be slightly damaged, or maybe not.”

Today retired colonel Mikhail Khodaryonok made another appearance on Russian state TV, just two days after he gave a damning assessment of Russia's war in Ukraine and its growing international isolation

It appears that someone's given him a bit of a talking to

(with subtitles) pic.twitter.com/M1u2q8L2Tn

— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 18, 2022

If the munitions seen in the videos were Russia’s Kub suicide drones, it might be one of their first operational deployments. The weapon only completed acceptance trials in November last year.

It spans about 1.2m and can carry a payload of about 3kg at speeds of up to 130km/h for 30 minutes. Its electrical engine is almost silent.

It’s specifically designed to strike trenches, artillery emplacements, logistics convoys and armoured personnel carriers.

The Kremlin claims a massive toll of Ukrainian arms and equipment since the start of the unprovoked war in February.

“In total, 172 Ukrainian aircraft and 125 helicopters, 927 unmanned aerial vehicles, 311 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3139 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 389 multiple launch rocket systems, 1548 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2997 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation,” the MoD statement reads.

Imported punch

“We do believe that these howitzers will be … very, very effective in helping in the Donbas fight, which we’ve already seen is deeply reliant on long-range fires, specifically artillery by both sides,” a US defence official said earlier this month.

Now Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov says 74 of the 90 M777 howitzers it had received are already operational on the front line.

Ukrainian 25th airborne brigade targets Russian positions with what appears to be drone spotted artillery fire. At least 1 BMP destroyed. pic.twitter.com/g4hrc04XNJ

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 18, 2022

“They’re pushing the Russians out to the east and to the north, and we do believe that the howitzers, in particular, are having an impact on that. Particularly in Kharkiv,” a Pentagon update said this week. “We do believe that the systems they’re getting – and not just the US systems but the systems they’re getting from other countries – are absolutely helping them regain some momentum and to take back some territory.”

A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer moves on a field near Sydorove, eastern Ukraine, on May 17, 2022. Picture: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP

The 4.2-tonne weapon is 10.7m long and has a crew of eight soldiers. It can fire a wide variety of shells, many of which are guided, over distances between 24km and 40km.

The bulk of the US M777 howitzers were airlifted to Europe for delivery to Ukraine early in March. Australia’s six donated guns arrived about the same time.

Ukrainian troops had to be trained in using the NATO-standard gun and its 155mm advanced guided ammunition before they were deployed.

Since then, the M777 has been credited with helping turn the tide in Ukraine’s favour in its defence of Kharkiv and the Donbas region. Its extended range and high-precision accuracy have reportedly forced Russia’s own exposed artillery to retreat – leaving front line troops to fend for themselves.

An Australian Government-donated M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzer bound for Ukraine. Picture: Royal Australian Airforce

Earlier this week, journalist Yuri Butusov posted video footage purporting to show a Ukrainian M777 firing against a Russian 2S3 Akatsiya self-propelled gun. A surveillance drone appears to record a direct hit.

The US on Thursday promised the delivery of a further 18 M777 howitzer systems.

“The M777 is perfect for UKR at this stage,” Mr Hertling concludes. “It’s accurate, [has a] small crew, light logistics, [is] quick, can hide easily, [and] doesn’t have [the] propensity for as much damage.”

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel