Russian Elite Marine Brigade's Deputy Commander Killed in HIMARS Strike

What's New?

Ukraine's latest attack on Russia's Kursk oblast has killed a senior military official, amid ongoing fighting over the western region.

According to Militarnyi, the strike killed Salim Pashtov, deputy commander of Russia's 810th Marine Brigade, who was stationed at the command post in the city of Lgov, Kursk, around 30 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The pro-Ukrainian outlet cited a social media post from Pashtov's sister, which read: "A terrible grief happened. My dear brother, Salim Mukharbetovich, died.
Eternal memory to you, brother."

According to the Telegram channel War_home, several other military personnel were in the building alongside Pashtov, and died in the strike.

Russian news channel Mash reported that three women were also killed in the attack on Lgov, which was carried out using M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Newsweek was unable to confirm the use of HIMARS in the Wednesday strike, and has contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for further information.

Why It Matters

The 810th Marine Brigade, officially headquartered in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, has already endured heavy defeats throughout the course of the conflict, while a shortage of Russian troops in Kursk has prompted Vladimir Putin to enlist North Korean forces to help push back Ukrainian soldiers in the area.

Ukrainian soldiers supervise as a M142 HIMARS launching a rocket on the Bakhmut direction on May 18, 2023 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. On December 25, Ukraine reportedly struck a command post in Kursk using the... Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

In September 2022, only six months after the launch of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's General Staff claimed that 85 percent of the brigade had been wiped out in the Kherson direction, owing to "the successful actions carried out by the Defense Forces," and that many of those who remained had refused to return to combat.

In early December, footage posted on social media showed men, proclaiming to be soldiers of the 810th Brigade, being taken captive by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian Armed Forces' Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) said that the command post of the 810th brigade was located in an "abandoned civilian building" in Lgov, and that the attack was "part of a comprehensive campaign to weaken the capabilities of the armed forces of the Russian Federation to coordinate military operations against the people of Ukraine."

What To Know

Kursk, which borders Ukraine, has remained a key target for Ukrainian strikes since the beginning of the conflict. These attacks have targeted Russian military assets, while also supporting Kyiv's forces, present in the oblast since the August offensive.

Last week, Ukraine employed its U.S.-supplied HIMARS, the systems reportedly employed in the Christmas Day attack, to launch an attack on the town of Rylsk in the western Kursk region. According to Kursk's acting, Governor Alexander Khinshtein, ten people, including a teenager, were hospitalized in the strike, which killed six.

What People Are Saying

Russian news channel Mash, via Telegram: "The Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the roof of a sugar factory, a thermal power plant, a residential building and a gas pipeline, and fires started in several places. There is a colony with captured Ukrainian soldiers in Lgov—they could have been the target of the attack."

Alexander Khinshtein, acting governor of Kursk, via Telegram: "These days have been difficult for Lgov residents. The most important task now is to return the city and its residents to a sense of order and security. We have all the necessary forces and means for this. Thanks to everyone who got involved in the work: utility workers, volunteers, law enforcement officers. We will not leave anyone alone with trouble, we will cope together and do everything so that Lgov returns to peaceful life as soon as possible!"

Ukraine StratCom, via Telegram: "The Armed Forces of Ukraine can strike anywhere and anytime to protect the Ukrainian people from Russian aggression."

What Happens Next?

Fighting over the Kursk region continues four months into the surprise incursion. Russian counteroffensives, while successful in halting Ukraine's advances and pushing its soldiers out of the territory gained in the first few weeks, have so far failed to entirely repel Kyiv back to its borders.

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