Video posted by the pro-Russia group on Telegram shows a Russian soldier firing a PKM machine gun at the S-300 system’s launcher, causing a large explosion.
“Soldiers of the 255th Regiment destroy an S-300 system of the Ukrainian army. Don’t worry, no one is hurt in the video,” the Voenacher account supporting Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine wrote on the Telegram app. on 6/7. In the video, Russian soldiers use PKM machine guns to destroy an S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missile launcher.
OSINTtechnical, an account specializing in monitoring the war situation in Ukraine, shared the video on Twitter, saying that this is not a safe way to destroy an S-300 missile launcher. Tyler Rogoway, a military expert at the US site War Zone, also agrees with this statement.
In the video, soldiers wearing field uniforms and bulletproof helmets with the Russian flag on them, load PKM guns and aim at an S-300 launcher with digital camouflage paint. “Ready,” the soldier said before the videographer shouted the command “fire”.
The S-300 launcher explodes violently after one shot and creates many shards. Soldiers opened fire and the cameraman quickly crouched down to find cover, the condition of the two people was unknown after the incident.
The time and location of the video recording were not disclosed. It is not clear whether this S-300 launcher is controlled by Russian forces or because the Ukrainian army left the battlefield.
Many social media users believe that the soldiers’ actions in the video are very reckless, when they are only a few dozen meters away from the exploding launch pad.
The launcher in the video carries at least three launchers, each equipped with a fragmentation warhead weighing 130-150 kg.
The projectiles can seriously injure or even kill soldiers, if they get too close to the explosion.
It is not clear where the PKM bullet hit, causing the S-300 missile launcher, which has high stability, to explode so violently.
Some people hypothesize that the S-300 launcher vehicle was loaded with explosives and activated at the same time as the machine gun shot. The Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries have not yet commented on the video.
“Although the AK is considered Kalashnikov’s most famous creation, it is the PK/PKM machine gun that is the company’s best,” according to the US magazine National Interest.
The PK/PKM series is currently considered a powerful machine gun and causes great damage to enemy infantry across the battlefield.
Since its launch until now, this gun line is still the first choice for the militaries of many countries
This line of machine guns was also created by weapons genius Kalashnikov and entered service in 1961 and was upgraded eight years later.
Like the AK, the PK/PKM became the standard weapon in service in many countries.
According to National Interest, the PK/PKM is one of the best light machine guns in the world.
Its mass is only 7.5 kg and this gives it a significant advantage over the Belgian model FN MAG, which weighs 11 kg. The FN Minimi models, though more modern, weigh almost 1.5 kg more than the Russian PKM machine gun.
The National Interest also points out that PK/PKM is common in the equipment of allied armies of the United States.
In Finland, this machine gun was considered the main firepower for infantry units. Poland has released a modification of the PKM, adapted to NATO ammunition.
Powerful, easy to use, and durable make this machine gun especially popular on the battlefield.
The PK (Russian: Пулемёт Калашникова, Pulemyot Kalashnikova) is a multi-purpose machine gun designed in the Soviet era and is still mass-produced by Russia today.
The first PK variant was introduced in the 1960s to replace the SG-43 Goryunov and RPD machine guns.
PKs can be used for frontline combat or mounted on motorized vehicles.
