Russian Soldier Accidentally Films Detonation of Putin's Prized Howitzer

A screen grab captured from a video shows the Tsentr Group of Forces 152-mm 2S5 Giatsint-S platoon along with an Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle team target an Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle command post in eastern Ukraine on February 16, 2024. A video circulating on social media looks to show Russian forces filming the detonation of a 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer in an open field at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region.

New footage appears to show an explosion engulfing a Russian artillery system behind the front lines in Moscow-controlled territory as Ukraine gears up for an expected Russian summer offensive.

A video circulating on social media appears to show Russian forces filming the detonation of a 2S5 Giatsint-S self-propelled howitzer in an open field at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. It is not clear what caused the explosion or whether the system was damaged beyond repair.

An open-source intelligence account sharing the footage said the video was filmed on Monday.

Newsweek could not independently verify the clip and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

On Monday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry shared footage it said showed a U.S.-made High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System firing on the Russian 2S5 Giatsint-S howitzer. The clip, attributed to Kyiv’s special operations forces, appears to show the Russian Giatsint-S in a wooded area before the HIMARS strikes the system. The Giatsint-S was damaged, Kyiv said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has previously shared footage purporting to show a Giatsint-S in action in Ukraine.

Artillery is a crucial part of both Moscow’s and Kyiv’s war efforts and can determine how many casualties the opposing side suffers. Maintaining stockpiles of ammunition to keep these artillery systems firing has been a pressing concern in Kyiv in recent months, limiting Ukrainian operations as Russia had made inching gains westward.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month that Russia was able to fire 10 times the number of shells that Ukrainian troops had at their disposal, meaning Moscow will “be pushing us back every day.”

On Monday, Zelensky said that securing modern artillery was a priority for Kyiv ahead of final approval by congressional lawmakers and President Joe Biden for new U.S. aid, expected in the coming days. On Saturday, the House of Representatives approved more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, which had been stalled in Congress for months.

Increasingly urgent requests for ammunition intensified as Ukrainian officials warned that Russia was preparing for a summer offensive on shell-starved Ukrainian positions. In late February, Zelensky said this new push could start as early as late May.

“There will be problems starting in mid-May,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence service, told the BBC’s Ukraine service in an article published Monday.

“We are going to face a rather difficult situation in the near future,” he added. “But it’s not catastrophic, and we need to understand that.”

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