Ukrainian gunners struck at the positions of the Russians in the Belgorod region and destroyed the crew of the howitzer.

A video of the defeated Russian artillery was released online.

An aerial reconnaissance unit of the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade spotted a Russian 2А65 Msta-B howitzer 7 kilometers from the border with Ukraine during a reconnaissance mission on May 23.

The video showed how the brigade’s gunners targeted the Russian artillery from the first shot with an unknown sample of precision weapons.

Footage also showed burning and detonating ammunition after being struck near the destroyed howitzer.

The Russian army began to deploy additional units on the northern border with Ukraine just recently. The deployment is related to recent raids of the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK – ed.) in the Belgorod and Bryansk regions of the Russian Federation.

The position of the Russian howitzer was geolocated, it was dislocating (here) near the village of Surkovo. It is about 7 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

The type of projectile that struck the Russian positions is unkown. According to open data, the 14th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade has 9К58 Smerch 300mm multiple rocket launchers. However, the mode of striking proves this weapon wasn’t used for this hit.

Currently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have a large shortage of 300 mm rockets: they are not made in Ukraine and are not common in the world arms market. De facto, these systems are no longer used by the Ukrainian military.

Given the latter, it can be assumed that the artillery division of this brigade was gradually rearmed with long-range samples of Western-style MRL, for example, HIMARS or M270. Nevertheless, this assumption cannot claim veracity without substantial arguments.

2А65 Msta-B

2А65 Msta-B is a Soviet 152mm towed howitzer manufactured by the Russian Titan-Barrikady enterprise. The howitzer is armed by former countries of the Soviet Union, including the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

The firing range of the howitzer is up to 24,700 meters with a conventional high-explosive shell and up to 29,000 meters with the rocket-assisted projectile. The ammunition package also includes a 3OF39 Krasnopol high-precision adjusted artillery projectile.