Horrific month for Russia's tank artillery
In the month of May, there was a sudden spike in the destruction of Russian Msta-S self-propelled howitzers. Ukrainian military experts have pointed out two main reasons for this.
Reports claim that Russia's military lost an exceptional amount of Msta-S self-propelled howitzers over the past month. The military news outlet Militarnyi states that more than nine of thesehowitzers were destroyed. It is speculated that most of these losses are due to Ukrainian FPV drones(First Person View). The drone squad "Muramasa" of the 109th Brigade of Territorial Defense is said to have taken out at least four Msta-S in the Avdiivka region in recent days.
The Dutch website Oryx, which keeps a record of losses in Ukraine by means of photographs and videos, confirms the destruction of nine Msta-S. In contrast, the portal Oryx registered only one Msta-S destroyed in April and one damaged Msta-S in March, and none in February. Militarnyi points out that the losses mentioned only concern damaged or destroyed artillery systems that have been verified by photos or videos. Hence, the actual number of losses could be significantly higher.
The pro-Ukrainian website Defense Blog states that several factors have contributed to these increased losses. For one thing, Ukrainian forces are deliberately targeting these systems. Additionally, the effectiveness of the Ukrainian counter-battery fire has improved, resulting in more successful encounters with Russian artillery units.
The 2S19 Msta-S was created in the Soviet Union during the 1980s and has been frequently updated since then. The vehicle's chassis is based on the T-80 tank. This artillery system employs a 152-millimeter howitzer. The first Msta-S vehicles were delivered to the military in 1989. As per the British research institution International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Russia had over 850 active and 150 stored Msta-S in 2020. According to Oryx, Moscow has lost a total of 241 Msta-S in various versions since February 2022.
Russia has usually depended on tracked vehicles for its self-propelled artillery. However, Moscow has had a wheeled self-propelled howitzer since autumn 2023, the 2S43 Malwa. A Ukrainian intelligence drone recently observed a Malwa for the first time on the battlefield in the Kharkiv region.
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The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has seen Russia facing significant losses in its Military, with reports indicating an attack on Ukraine resulting in the destruction of several Msta-S self-propelled howitzers. The Ukrainian military has been suspected of using FPV drones to target and destroy these Russian artillery systems, contributing to Russia's military woes.
This month's attack on Ukraine by Russia, resulting in losses of their Msta-S self-propelled howitzers, has highlighted the effectiveness of the Ukrainian counter-battery fire and their intentional targeting of these systems.
