Ukraine-Russia warfare dwell: More than 100 Russian troopers killed in Atacms strike

More than 100 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed in an Atacms strike in one of the highest single losses of Russian lives in months.

Drone footage shared on social media purportedly shows the moment the US-supplied ballistic missiles smash into a training ground in the Russian-held area around Mozhnyakivka, Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.

As many as four, including one dud, cluster munition versions of the weapon, which scatters ballbearings over a wide area, were used in the strike.

At least one of the missiles appeared to strike a cluster of at least 100 Russian troops, according to open source analysis of the video.

The Institute for the Study of War, the US-based think-tank, highlighted the strike in a recent battlefield report, saying Kyiv’s forces had hit a Russian training ground some 50 miles behind the front line in Luhansk. 

Ukraine was given short-ranged versions of the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms), which are armed with a cluster warhead, last Autumn. The older version disperses deadly cluster bomblets as it hits its target. It is one the only weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal that can deliver a cluster strike at ranges over 50 miles. 

Follow the latest updates below