Ukrainian service members firing a M777 howitzer on an unspecified front in the Donbass region. Source: the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
The Russian military successfully destroyed a hangar in the Donbass region where US-supplied howitzers were being stored, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on July 9.
The MoD’s spokesperson Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said a “high-precision weapon” destroyed the hangar near the settlement of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk. According to the spokesman, the hanger housed “American 155 mm M777 howitzers and up to 30 Ukrainian militants shelling residential areas of Donetsk”.
The M777 towed howitzer has a maximum rate of fire of seven rounds per minute with a range of up to 40 kilometers when firing Excalibur precision-guided rounds.
In April, the US supplied 108, Canada four and Australia six M777 howitzers to Kiev forces to help thwart the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Since then, hundreds of thousands of 155 mm rounds have been supplied to the country.
In addition, the US latest $400 million military aid package to Ukraine included at least 1,000 Excalibur rounds for the howitzers.
Many of Ukraine’s newly-acquired M777 howitzers have been already destroyed or damaged by the Russian military. The howitzers failed to shift the course of the battle.
In the last few months, Ukraine received more than 200 howitzers of different types from its Western allies. Despite this, its forces are still outgunned by the Russian artillery. Kiev is now waiting for more howitzers and other heavy weapons. The only goal these supplies will achieve is to prolong the war.
