The Russian military has identified and destroyed three US-made HIMARS multiple rocket launchers and several accompanying vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on September 2.
Ukrainian forces deployed these systems in Sumy province, where Kiev launched a major offensive in Kursk province with the aim of creating a "buffer zone" on Russian soil.
The Russian military released a video showing camouflaged firing positions of mobile missile systems near the villages of Osoevka and Glybnoye. A location on the road connecting the two settlements, located about 19 km from the Russian border, closely resembles the terrain in the clip.
According to drone footage, a series of Russian airstrikes appear to have been carried out overnight.
Two close positions beside a dirt road on the edge of a small forest were first attacked, with survivors apparently rushing toward nearby parked cars. In the third wave, Russian troops attacked the forest itself.
The Russian Defense Ministry estimated that the airstrikes destroyed three HIMARS launchers, three support vehicles and a loading vehicle, and killed more than 30 soldiers.
The total number of Ukrainian casualties in the offensive in the Kursk region has exceeded 8,900, the Defense Ministry reported in its regular update on September 2.
Russian forces also destroyed six HIMARS launchers, two tracked MLRS launchers and dozens of heavy weapons sent across the border by Ukraine to attack.
