Ukraine has decimated a Russian heavy flamethrower causing a “magnificent fireworks display” using US supplied missiles, a video shared by the Ukraine Security Service has shown.
Plumes of smoke could be seen for miles as a number of fireballs were seen intermittently whizzing into the air from the burning wreckage in the Zaporizhzia region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine intelligence officers spotted a Russian Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower system during a reconnaissance mission.
They then worked with the army to coordinate an artillery strike on the weapon using a HIMARS rocket, a Zelensky government advisor has said.
The now-obliterated machine, or TOS-1A, is said to be the “pride of the Russian military industry complex” and is used to clear out buildings, battlefield fortifications and bunkers, charring those inside.
It’s also known to be effective against light-armoured vehicles.
Confirming the strike, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, wrote: “The SSU put HIMARS on to the Russian Solntsepyok MLRS position: its detonation resulted in a magnificent fireworks display.
“During the reconnaissance, the SSU Zaporizhzhia Department spotted the position of a heavy flamethrower system Solntsepyok, which is the ‘pride’ of the Russian military-industrial complex.
“It was supposed to strike at the positions of the Ukrainian military, who are conducting a counteroffensive in this area. But thanks to the coordination of the Security Service and the Armed Forces artillery, the TOS-1A Solntsepyok was destroyed along with its crew and full ammunition.”
The US has supplied more than 20 HIMARS launches since the White House announced it would provide the weapons in June as part of a $700million (£575million) military aid package.
The rockets have recently also been used to take out Russian targets in the Kherson region, including Russia’s Predel-E coastal radar system.
It comes as Zelensky has been trying to persuade some sceptical politicians in the West to continue supporting Ukraine with vast military supplies.
The warring leader recently visited Washington for the second time in nine months after the republican lawmakers started to question how much military aid the US could give.
