U.S.-made M777 Howitzers Destroyed in Russian Drone Strike in Ukraine

An unspecified number of U.S.-made 155mm M777 howitzers were destroyed in a Russian drone and artillery strike on Ukrainian positions today.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and artillery reconnaissance identified the coordinates of a U.S.-made 155mm M777 howitzer battery's firing position used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"UAV operators then fired a missile at the firing position of the American howitzer battery, causing damage to several guns,” it said.

After the UAV strikes, the Ukrainian artillery forces attempted to hide in a wooded area and conceal the M777 towed howitzers there. As soon as the Ukrainian militants concentrated their towed howitzers and guns in the wooded area, an artillery strike was launched. All the equipment and American howitzers were destroyed.

The Russian MoD published footage of the strike on its website. The drone video shows several towed artillery trucks moving on a road and stopping at a clearing when a missile strikes one of them.

A second strike is delivered after the howitzer-carrying trucks moved to a wooded area destroyed the remaining towed howiters, the MoD said.

Pentagon claims M777 howitzers helping Ukrainian forces

The Pentagon has claimed that the M777 howitzers are having an impact on Ukraine's ability to repel Russian attacks. At a background briefing in Washington on Wednesday, a Pentagon official said, "We know that 79 of the 90, U.S.-provided M777s are now forward with the Ukrainian military, and we get that from them, they're telling us that. They're providing long-range indirect fire capability."

And of the 209,000 rounds of 155 ammunition that we committed to Ukraine, 75%, more than 156,000 of those rounds, have been transferred to the Ukrainian military. Majority of the committed 155 rounds are in country, the official said.