According to Kyiv, dozens of Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine’s first-ever attack employing US long-range missile artillery against one of Putin’s command centers.
According to commanders, at least 40 of Moscow’s soldiers were killed when Ukrainian troops detonated a base close to the Donbass city of Izyum using an American HIMARS weapon.
Video that surfaced on Sunday showed the attack’s aftermath, with burned-out supply trucks and destroyed structures bearing the ‘Z’ combat sign.
Separately, it was discovered that the same missile system had also killed a Russian colonel, making him the war’s 56th senior officer to perish.
According to local media, Andrei Vasilyev, 49, the commander of an elite unit of VDV paratroopers, perished in an unidentified hit on Friday night.
Vasilyev headed the 137th Guards Airborne Regiment of the 106th Guards Airborne Division and had previously received the Russian Order of Courage.
According to Russian media, he leaves behind a wife and a daughter.
Vasilyev’s passing took place on the same night when HIMARS-captured video of Ukrainian soldiers opening fire initially became public.
It is not clear whether the strike captured on film and the strike that killed Vasilyev were one and the same, but the timing of his death means he is almost certainly one of the first Russian officers to be killed by the weapon.
The strike on the Izyum command post is thought to have been a separate attack, although Ukraine has not said precisely when that happened.
Kyiv’s commanders said that attack blew up a school – Izyum Lyceum No 2 – which was being used as a base by Russian forces in the region. 
According to them, at least 40 members of unit 89425, which was initially stationed in Voronezh and was part of the 20th Army of the Russian Armed Forces, were murdered.
Over 40 individuals were stationed at the command post, and Ukraine reported that all of them had been demilitarized.
Russia accepted the strike and agreed that HIMARS had been used, but claimed that the attack had really hit a hospital and claimed the lives of two people.
America began sending advanced long-range rocket artillery systems to Ukraine earlier this month after repeated requests from Kyiv, which said it needed the weapons to level the playing field with Russian batteries in the Donbas.
The systems are in demand for their ability to carry out precision strikes over long distances – more than double the range of the howitzers the West has already sent.
The artillery weapons will be used by Ukrainian commanders to attack far beyond the Russian frontline, obliterating command stations like the one in Izyum and blowing up armament depots to halt Moscow’s advance.
The first batteries reached Ukraine last week, and training with the armament systems began there on June 7.
Unknown footage that surfaced last week showed a HIMARS battery firing late at night and hitting an unidentified target.
The America-made HIMARS systems are expected to be followed by British M270 MLRS launchers – a similar system which is less manoeuvrable but delivers a heavier payload which should arrive in the coming weeks.
The US and UK combined are thought to have pledged 11 HIMARS or MLRS to Ukraine, which President Zelensky has thanked them for while insisting his country needs more to win the war.
HIMARS and MLRS systems have wildly varying ranges and effects based on the type of projectile fired, which can range from precision-guided to cluster bombs.
Using ammunition provided by the West, it is thought Ukraine’s systems have a range of around 45 miles – compared to 20 miles for the M777 howitzer it is also using.
Joe Biden has ruled out sending the longest-range rocket with a range of some 300 miles, fearing Kyiv would use it to strike mainland Russia.
The Pentagon fears that would lead to an escalation in the war, and may drag NATO into the conflict.
Kyiv has also promised not to use the systems and ammunition it already has for strikes on Russian soil.