Ukraine Destroys Russia’s New High-Tech Radar Jammer With US-Made HIMARS

Ukraine’s Armed Forces knocked out a Russian electronic warfare system along the Zaporizhzhia front with the help of a U.S.-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Kyiv’s Special Operations Forces posted footage to its Telegram channel on Monday of drone operators in Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Regiment destroying a Russian Palantin electronic defense system. According to the post, Moscow’s equipment was conducting “electronic reconnaissance” in the area, and destroying the system will help suppress Russia’s military communications in the region.

Video of the Palantin device’s destruction was also shared to X, formerly Twitter, by news outlet Ukrainian Pravda. The clip shows the moment that a HIMARS rocket strikes the target, which appears to explode into flames.

Captain Dmytro Lykhovyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Tavriisk Group of Forces, also told local outlets on Monday that Ukraine’s forces destroyed a Palantin system and a Layer electronic warfare system in the Zaporizhzhia region over the weekend.

Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine’s claims and reached out to Russia’s Defense Ministry via email for comment.

Positional fighting continued along the western Zaporizhzhia front on Monday, according to the latest assessment from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Several Russian sources claimed that Moscow’s troops made advances between the cities of Robotyne and Verbove, although ISW did not observe any visual evidence for such claims.

Moscow did make marginal advances near the border of the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia region over the weekend, according to geolocated footage reviewed by the ISW. Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily update to Facebook on Monday that Russia launched five attacks on Ukrainian defenders near the cities of Robotyne, Staromaiors’ke and northwest of Verbove.

Russia also made confirmed advances along the Luhansk front in eastern Ukraine on Monday, the ISW reported, including near the villages of Kupyansk, Svatov and Kreminna. Ukraine still holds control of Terny in the region and repelled several Moscow attacks on its positions in the city on the same day.

Ukraine is working on establishing new fortified defense positions after Russia took control of the eastern village of Avdiivka last month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post to Telegram on Monday that Kyiv’s forces are on pace to build over 1,200 miles of fortifications across three lines of defense. Several outlets have reported that Russia’s troops have been slowing their momentum following Avdiivka’s success due to Ukraine’s defensive positions.

Lykhovyi told Ukrainian media on Monday that Russia has set its sights on taking the village of Novomykhailivka next, as Moscow continues its westward march.