Russia's Tor Missile System Blown Up With HIMARS After Missing Spy Drone

Ukraine's military released combat footage on Friday that appears to show its forces blowing up a Russian mobile short-range missile system.

The 35-second aerial footage was first shared by the Ukrainian Armed Forces Center for Strategic Communications (Stratcom) on Telegram, which said it shows a Ukrainian drone evading a missile from the Russian Tor air defense system.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Friday that the Russian Tor air defense system was destroyed in a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) attack carried out by Ukraine's 14th UAV Regiment.

Newsweek could not independently verify the footage and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email. It's not clear where or when it was filmed.

The U.S.-supplied HIMARS has allowed Ukraine to destroy Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft missile systems. The rocket system has been used extensively throughout Russia's war with Ukraine, which is now in its third year. Washington has supplied the Ukrainians with at least 39 HIMARS since the conflict began.

Ukraine has regularly targeted Russia's Tor systems, which are capable of downing aircraft, drones, guided missiles and other precision munitions at medium to low altitudes. The Tor-M2 variant is capable of destroying drones and "other complex aerial targets" while on the move, Russia's state-run news agency Tass reported last February, citing a military expert.

Ukraine is also reported to have used Western-supplied HIMARS to target groups of Russian troops.

In June, Ukraine's military said it attacked Russian troops who were hiding in a forest in occupied southern Ukraine.

"The UAV crew of the 73rd Maritime Center of Special Forces discovered the location of a concentration of Russian forces while conducting reconnaissance in the southern direction," Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) said in a post on Telegram, sharing footage of the attack.

"The SSO adjusted HIMARS fire at the location of the Russians in the southern sector," the post continued. "As a result of the strike, the Russian military suffered significant losses."

And in October 2023, footage purportedly showed the aftermath of a HIMARS strike on a Russian battalion.

A Ukrainian open-source intelligence project, DeepState, reported that the attack was carried out on a training ground located near the village of Podo-Kalynivka in occupied Kherson. The BBC News Russian service, citing a source in the Ukrainian special services, reported that the attack took place in the same location.

Ukrainian newspaper Zerkalo Nedeli reported that at least 60 Russian troops were killed in the Kherson attack.

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