Tuesday 24 May 2022 10:01 AM Footage shows Russian base destroyed by with NATO-supplied howitzer fired from ... trends now
The Ukrainian army demonstrated the potency of new NATO weapons reaching their hands on the front lines by obliterating a Russian base from 12 miles away.
The Ukrainian artillerymen said they fired from a NATO-supplied howitzer at a distance of over 12 miles (20 kilometres).
The 128th Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade said they hit the base of Russian command staff and destroyed a military SUV marked with 'Z', killing several enemy soldiers in the process.
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 military SUV marked with 'Z' and several nearby Russian troops received a direct hit from a NATO-supplied howitzer from 12 miles away
A freeze-frame of the video shows the shell coming in for a direct hit on its target even as it is concealed under a tree
Ukraine claimed that the base was destroyed and several soldiers killed in the strike. They have pioneered the use of unmanned drones hovering far above the battlefield to locate and target Russian units from far away
'A time-lapse drone video shows the arrival of a 155-caliber 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.'
The M198 howitzer, delivered to Ukrainian battlefields by the US military, is one component of the new NATO strategy of equipping Ukraine with the offensive weapons it needs to match the Russian army on the battlefield.
In the build up to the war, amid Russian denials of any intent to invade, NATO countries operated a strategy of mainly providing defensive weaponry to Ukraine in order to avoid the threat of escalation and provoking a war they sought to avoid.
With the conflict in the Donbas reaching something of a static stalemate, the superiority of Russian artillery was due to tell in a grinding war of attrition.
The introduction of such weapons as the M198, capable of firing four rounds a minute to a distance of 12 miles with a high degree of accuracy, is intended to level the playing field.
Ukraine has also been making innovative use of aerial drones that monitor the battlefield and locate enemy positions to help provide accurate fire for their artillery.
Whereas in times past, soldiers on the front lines would observe the accuracy - or not - of artillery shells miles back from the lines and radio in targeting adjustments, now artillerymen can see what they are
