Russia's Devastating New Weapon Hits Enemy Positions in War's First: Video

Russia has used modified cluster bombs as glide weapons against Ukrainian forces in the south of the war-torn country for the first time, new footage and reports appear to show.

In a clip widely circulating online, published on the Telegram messaging app by a Russian channel thought to be linked to Moscow's military, what looks to be a cluster munitions strike across the Ukrainian countryside shows dozens of almost simultaneous explosions. However, there are few details available about the footage, and it could not be independently verified by Newsweek.

The Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian General Staff have been approached for comment via email.

Russia's influential community of milbloggers reported on Sunday that Moscow's troops had carried out a "large airstrike" with RBK-500 cluster bombs that had been adapted to act as glide bombs in south Donetsk, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Sunday.

The RBK-500 bombs were used against Ukrainian forces close to the Donetsk village of Staromayorske, the ISW, a U.S.-based think tank, said. The settlement, close to the border with the southern Zaporizhzhia region, was retaken by Ukrainian forces in late July as Kyiv's counteroffensive collected several villages from Moscow's grip.

The military bloggers claimed that this strike near Staromayorske was "the first large Russian strike in Ukraine using this weapon with the glide bomb modification," the ISW wrote in its latest analysis.

On Monday, Ukraine's General Staff reported a Russian attack near Staromayorske, but said Moscow's forces had "no success." Also on Monday, Russia's defense ministry said it had blocked a Ukrainian attempt to move units of forces around Staromayorske and neighboring villages, including Rivnopil. Ukraine said it had captured Rivnopil in late June.

On Sunday, Moscow had said it had stopped a Ukrainian counterattack around Staromayorske as Kyiv tried to rotate troops near the village and the settlement of Urozhaine.

Across the southern Donetsk front line, Ukraine lost 145 fighters in the past day, Russia said in a statement on Monday. The Ukrainian General Staff told Newsweek on Monday that it was unable to comment on these figures.

Open-source intelligence accounts had reported the use of RBK-500 cluster munitions in Ukraine since the early days of the war. But Ukraine's air force has sounded the alarm several times in recent months over Moscow's use of "glide bombs," describing the weapons as a significant threat to Ukraine.

"We have to urgently respond to it," Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ignat said of Russia's FAB series of glide bombs back in April.

But the air-launched glide bombs can be fired outside of the range of many of Ukraine's air defenses, meaning Russia can "use its bigger air force to hit Ukrainian targets" and dodge Kyiv's surface-to-air missiles, military and weapons expert David Hambling told Newsweek.

"This is important because so far Ukrainian air defenses have prevented Russian aircraft from carrying out effective attacks," he said. But with glide bombs, Russia can attack from further away and preserve its aircraft, he added.

Russia is known to have used 500-kilogram guided glide bombs in Ukraine, and reports emerged earlier in Ukraine's fall season that Moscow had rolled out upgraded "smart" glide bombs, including the 1,500-kilogram FAB-1500. Ukraine's air force said back in April that Russia had been using the 500-kilogram FAB-500 across "the entire front line," and that there were "signs of preparation for the mass use of 1,500 kg KABs."

Ukraine has also received guided bombs in aid packages from the U.S., including the JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munitions), and the longer-range JDAM-ER. JDAM kits create precision-guided "smart" munitions from unguided bombs, launched from a variety of aircraft, much like the FAB series of bombs.

Update 11/20/23, 9:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comment from David Hambling.

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