Russian Wagner Group (Private Military Company) that is taking part in the war in Ukraine shares information about the alleged destruction of HIMARS, claiming all the messages appearing in the pro-Russian channels are fake:
Even through the (near)front work and poor internet connection, the sound comes through, which, if it wasn’t the sound of explosions of HIMARS MLRS strikes, then at least it is explosions of bottom parts on both sides, of those who speak about their uselessness, but also the others who claim their super-effectiveness.
I have no desire and don’t see any point to compare performance characteristics of our own and foreign systems, I just want to take about the essence:
For starters, as a response to the propagandist post below (*a post from Readovka Russian channel), I’d like to say that by the time of its posting Ukraine had at least 12 (now up to 16) HIMARS systems – 6 in Dnipro, followed by distribution of 2 to Kryvyi Rih, 4 to Zaporizhye, 2 to Kharkiv and 4 to Mykolaiv directions.
Regarding the effectiveness of the systems, I won’t be going into whether the results of the work of the Western MLRS are its advantages (I think that it is put mildly) or the disadvantages of our air defence, but without revealing any secrets I will say that all uses of these systems (of which there were not many) were at very important facilities, and not positions in the field. Even with shooting down a third of the missiles, the rest dealt the necessary for Ukraine damage to our side.
As for the informational gossip about their purchase or destruction: all messages about the sale by UAF and the purchase by RF AF of both the French howitzer Ceasar and the American MLRS HIMARS are fiction. More than one post was made about Ceasar, as if it was already being taken apart at our factory, but they didn’t show a single photo which is absolutely not typical for our side which boasts a lot. The totally ridiculous story about the secret sale of HIMARS I believe does not need at all any logical reflections, since to seriously believe that someone on the internet would write about an unfinished deal, reveal the entire scheme, data on the sellers and buyers, and at the same time hope for the conclusion of the deal, it is all complete schizophrenia.
But the highlight of our discussion among the fighters was the alleged destruction of HIMARS yesterday, where in reality a timber truck was destroyed that was carrying logs to the frontline of UAF for strengthening of their positions. And generally, for the future, if you see glued up frames, low-quality filming from an UAV (we don’t have others yet), where nothing apart from pixels and something smouldering can be seen, which requires you to fantasise – consider the information to be untrue. If we really managed to locate the position of a HIMARS and then destroy it, believe me there would be plenty of shots, ours wouldn’t miss an opportunity to play it in the media for a few weeks in the daily news.
Like Scout said in one of the latest broadcasts – “The bulk of our problems is due to us f*cking lying to ourselves!”