Russians Blame Location Leak for HIMARS Hit on 'Judgment Day' Drone Pilots

Kyiv's forces attacked a Russian military training ground in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region on Wednesday, striking a group of drone pilots using a U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), according to local reports.

In a post on Telegram, Russian military blogger Vladimir Romanov said some drone operators said they could have been struck near the city of Ilovaisk because the head of the Sudoplatov (or "Judgment Day") group carelessly gave out coordinates on its positions to "strangers" via a bot on "where to come for training."

"The HIMARS have arrived. There are dead," the drone operators allegedly said.

Romanov, a pro-Kremlin blogger, has been known to be reliable. Sudoplatov is a Russian volunteer group that says it produces 1,000 drones per day, Forbes reported in December. Drones have been vital to the war efforts of both Russia and Ukraine in the nearly two-year-old conflict.

Russia's Ministry of Defense said the volunteer group was created in November 2023, state-run news agency Tass reported. It said it is also a school for training drone operators.

"The production is small, but this is its advantage. You can quickly make changes to the design or quickly complete an individual order for a unit for a specific combat mission," the ministry said.

"The queue for classes is scheduled many months in advance. The cadets are trained from the initial stage, and experienced fighters arrive to improve their qualifications, as well as transfer their combat experience gained on the line of combat contact."

The VChK-OGPU outlet, which purports to have inside information from Russian security forces, said Thursday that 24 Russian servicemen were killed and four were wounded in the attack.

Russian Telegram channel Astra said the military training ground was struck "presumably from a HIMARS rocket system."

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a military training ground in occupied Ilovaisk. There are dead and wounded," the channel said. "The number [of casualties] is being established. Neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian side officially reported the shelling.

Romanov added that the management of the Sudoplatov project is currently "trying to hush up the situation."

Newsweek couldn't independently verify the reports and has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email. The Kremlin hasn't commented on the incident.

The United States has so far donated 39 HIMARS to Ukraine through its military aid packages to the war-torn country.

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