A video has surfaced online showing the Russians successfully attacking a Ukrainian fire brigade of the Patriot PAC-2 system.
Footage captured by the Russian drone shows a standing column of five vehicles hit by a ballistic missile, possibly a 9K720 Iskander. There is a strong explosion. The following photos from the scene show the wreckage of vehicles, including two M901 mobile launchers for the MIM-104 Patriot PAC-2 system and a vehicle equipped with a wall radar.
This is the first loss of its kind for the Ukrainian side, or at least the first confirmed loss. The video indicates that the bombers. The other accompanying vehicles were either on the move or entering or leaving the firing positions. The incident allegedly occurred near the village of Serhivka in Donbass (Donetsk Oblast), about 50 kilometers from the front line.
The remains indicate that these launchers were mounted on Mann-built trucks, and thus German-supplied launchers. It was probably an element of the Patriot battery that had been used offensively since December of last year, and was probably the second German element transferred in the autumn. This subunit has successfully destroyed Russian fighter aircraft in recent months, and may also have been responsible for the destruction of one A-50U and severe damage to the Il-22M command aircraft.
2x 🇩🇪 German-supplied M901 launchers for the MIM-104 PAC-2 Mobile Patriot air defense system were destroyed by a Russian OTRK “Iskander” ballistic missile near Sergeevka.
This is the first confirmed loss of such pic.twitter.com/A3Ws49kgrp
– WarVehicleTracker (@WarVehicle) March 9, 2024
As you can see, the Russians managed to develop a way to fight the patriots and inflicted a huge loss on the Ukrainian side. Considering the force of the explosion, the losses among experienced personnel must have been significant.
So far, Ukraine has received at least two Patriot batteries from Germany and one from the United States. In addition, the Germans provided two additional bombers, and the Dutch provided two more. In addition, France presented a battery of the same class of its own production – SAMP/T (single battery).
According to the American structure, the Patriot battery should also have five and four firing sections with two rocket launchers each. So it appears that one of these sections has been destroyed.
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