US Video Shows HIMARS Return for Repairs in Apparent First Loss

New footage appears to show two damaged HIMARS vehicles arriving in the United States from Ukraine for repairs, in what looks to be the first evidence of damage to the Kyiv-operated artillery systems.

The video, shared by open-source intelligence accounts on social media, reportedly shows two M142 HIMARS arriving at a Pennsylvania airport on a large strategic airlift aircraft.

One HIMARS vehicle seems to have shrapnel damage, and a second looks to have sustained heavy damage to the cabin and lost a wheel on one side. One open-source analyst speculated it may have struck a mine in Ukraine, although this cannot be independently verified.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian military and the Pentagon for comment via email.

The footage does look to show two HIMARS vehicles, said Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher with the War Studies Department at King's College London. It is certainly plausible that Moscow's forces may have damaged or taken out at least one HIMARS as it throws resources at Ukrainian defenses along several parts of the front line, she told Newsweek.

Russia has become far more capable of using drones and loitering munitions tactically, including its Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone and its Lancet loitering munition, to strike Ukrainian armored vehicles and military equipment, Miron added.

The United States has donated 39 HIMARS to Kyiv as part of more than $44 billion worth of security aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine has lauded the HIMARS, publishing footage it says shows successful strikes on crucial Russian assets like military bases, infrastructure and ammunition stores since the summer of 2022.

Each HIMARS is a modern missile launcher mounted on a truck, and its range depends on the type of missile fired.

Since Ukraine began using HIMARS against Russian forces, Moscow has frequently claimed to have destroyed the artillery systems on the battlefield. The Kremlin's claims were never independently verified.

If confirmed, losing the use of two HIMARS comes at a challenging moment for Ukraine as it battles pressing Russian advances around the devastated Donetsk city of Avdiivka and inching westward along the northern frontlines around the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions.

Russian forces advanced east of Bilhorivka, close to the Russian-controlled Luhansk city of Lysychansk, and close to Terny, west of Kreminna, the Institute for the Study of War said on Monday. Geolocated footage from Sunday also indicated Ukraine has "regained some tactical positions" west of Kreminna, the U.S. think tank evaluated.

Fierce clashes are still ongoing around Avdiivka, more than four months into Russia's offensive on the Ukrainian stronghold. Russia has slowly advanced, albeit at a heavy cost to its personnel, moving to encircle the settlement and cut off Ukraine's vital supply line into the city from the west.

"The situation is tense but under control," Captain Dmytro Lykhovii, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Tavria group of forces, which covers Avdiivka, told Newsweek earlier this week.

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