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Ukraine Destroys Russia’s New HIMARS-Like Sarma MLRS for the First Time
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Ukraine’s Defense Forces have destroyed Russia’s new HIMARS-like Sarma multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) for the first time during a large-scale Russian mechanized assault in the Donetsk region, according to Ukraine’s 1st Corps of the National Guard’s Azov Brigade on July 25.
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The strike occurred during a four-hour Russian offensive on the Dobropillia axis on July 22, where Ukrainian forces repelled an attack involving elements of Russia’s 8th and 41st Combined Arms Armies, as well as the 90th Tank Division.
Video published by Azov and analyzed by Militarnyi shows the Sarma launcher being destroyed by a fixed-wing attack drone after it had been deployed in support of the assault.
According to Azov, Russian forces committed dozens of armored vehicles, transport trucks, and specialized military equipment in an attempt to break through Ukrainian defenses near the village of Shakhove. The assault advanced simultaneously from the directions of Novoekonomichne and Vozdvyzhenka.
Russian forces also employed Gerbera and Lancet drones in an effort to disrupt Ukrainian air operations while using long-range rocket artillery to support advancing mechanized columns.
Ukrainian forces reported that engineering obstacles, coordinated drone operations, artillery, tactical aviation, and strikes on river crossings prevented Russian units from reaching their objectives.
Azov said the operation involved units of the National Guard, the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha special forces, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Ukrainian Air Force, the State Border Guard Service’s Phoenix unit, and other formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian military, the battle resulted in the destruction of seven tanks, six armored fighting vehicles, one BM-21 Grad MLRS, one Sarma MLRS, three specialized military vehicles, and 47 light vehicles. Ukrainian forces also reported 123 Russian troops killed and 29 wounded.
Militarnyi identified the destroyed launcher as the Sarma MLRS, a new Russian 300 mm rocket artillery system developed under the Kama program as a lighter alternative to the Tornado-S.
The system is widely viewed as Russia’s attempt to field a more mobile, HIMARS-like rocket launcher. Publicly announced by Russian state media in 2023, Sarma was first displayed in 2025 at the Motovilikha Plants manufacturing facility.
Mounted on a four-axle KamAZ-63501 chassis with an armored cab, Sarma carries six launch tubes, compared with Tornado-S’s 12, while reducing the vehicle’s weight by nearly 10 metric tons. The system was designed to improve mobility while retaining the ability to fire Russia’s family of 300 mm guided and unguided rockets.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Defense Forces repelled one of Russia’s largest recent armored assaults near Dobropillia, destroying nine tanks, two armored vehicles, and three BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, according to ArmyInform, citing Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.
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