Video Shows Moment of HIMARS Strike on Concert at Russian Army HQ

New footage appears to have captured the dramatic moment a Ukrainian HIMARS strike targeted a Russian awards ceremony, with dozens of Russian soldiers and a Russian performer believed to have been killed.

In a brief clip posted by a prominent Russian military blogger, what look to be Russian soldiers watch a female singer perform onstage before an audible crash. The camera shakes before cutting to black.

The footage has since been shared across social media, including on pro-Ukrainian channels. Newsweek cannot independently verify the video.

Local reports had suggested that a number of Russian soldiers had been killed in a strike near the town of Starobesheve and the village of Kumachove, in the Donetsk region close to the border with Russia's Rostov Oblast. The soldiers had been gathered for an awards ceremony in honor of Russia's 810th Marine Brigade on Russia's Day of Missile Forces and Artillery, according to reports. Russia marks its Day of Missile Forces and Artillery on November 19.

A concert, arranged as part of the awards ceremony, took place around 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, from the front lines, the Russian military blogger said. The account added the strike had killed Russian actress Polina Menshikh, named in the statement as the performer in the video. Russian state-backed newspaper, Izvestia, also reported Menshikh had died in the strike.

On November 19, Russian state news outlet Tass said that a woman had been killed in a Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher strike in Kumachove, but did not provide additional details.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov ordered an investigation after a reported Russian missile strike on Ukrainian soldiers in the southern Zaporizhzhia region as they observed Kyiv's Missile Forces and Artillery Day on November 3.

Ukraine's 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade said in a statement on November 6 that 19 of its soldiers had been killed. Ukrainian authorities in the Zakarpattia, or Transcarpathian, region declared three days of mourning in early November.

"My condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers from the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade," Umerov said.

In his evening address on November 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the reported strike a "tragedy that could have been avoided."

On Monday, Robert Brovdi, a Ukrainian soldier who heads up the Magyar Birds aerial reconnaissance unit, named after his call sign, "Magyar," appeared to reference the reported Donetsk strike on Russian soldiers as "revenge for the 128th."

Ukraine has been using U.S.-provided HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, since they initially arrived in the country around June 2022. The U.S. has supplied Ukraine with 39 HIMARS and associated ammunition to date, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

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