Russian milbloggers went ballistic after this attack, criticizing Russian military officials for arranging the ceremony so close to the frontlines, with one calling them sitting ducks. The deadly HIMARS knew the precise location and hit the stage within one meter of their target. "An explosion can be heard as the building shakes before the lights go out and people can be heard screaming, with one man simply shouting “Fuck!”'
Source: Newsweek
New footage appears to have captured the dramatic moment a Ukrainian HIMARS strike targeted a Russian awards ceremony, with dozens of Russian soldiers and a Russian performer believed to have been killed.
In a brief clip posted by a prominent Russian military blogger, what look to be Russian soldiers watch a female singer perform onstage before an audible crash. The camera shakes before cutting to black.
The footage has since been shared across social media, including on pro-Ukrainian channels. Newsweek cannot independently verify the video.
Local reports had suggested that a number of Russian soldiers had been killed in a strike near the town of Starobesheve and the village of Kumachove, in the Donetsk region close to the border with Russia's Rostov Oblast. The soldiers had been gathered for an awards ceremony in honor of Russia's 810th Marine Brigade on Russia's Day of Missile Forces and Artillery, according to reports. Russia marks its Day of Missile Forces and Artillery on November 19.
A concert, arranged as part of the awards ceremony, took place around 60 kilometers, or 37 miles, from the front lines, the Russian military blogger said. The account added the strike had killed Russian actress Polina Menshikh, named in the statement as the performer in the video. Russian state-backed newspaper, Izvestia, also reported Menshikh had died in the strike.
The explosion and the aftermath.
Not much left of the stage. As it was HIMARS, it was deadly accurate.
