Ukrainian artillery has torn through Russian gun lines east of Orikhiv in a punishing counterbattery campaign that Kyiv's supporters say is gutting Moscow's ability to answer in kind. The operation, documented with geolocated footage, destroyed a string of Russian artillery pieces in and around the town of Huliaipole — and fits a wider pattern: Ukraine's General Staff says its forces are now knocking out dozens of Russian guns every single day.
Ukrainian artillery has torn through Russian gun lines east of Orikhiv in a punishing counterbattery campaign that Kyiv's supporters say is gutting Moscow's ability to answer in kind. The operation, documented with geolocated footage, destroyed a string of Russian artillery pieces in and around the town of Huliaipole — and fits a wider pattern: Ukraine's General Staff says its forces are now knocking out dozens of Russian guns every single day.
Counterbattery barrage shreds Russian guns near Orikhiv
According to the battlefield report, Ukrainian guns delivered a devastating counterbattery barrage against Russian artillery positions east of Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The operation unfolded as a systematic hunt: Ukrainian reconnaissance located Russian guns one after another, and artillery and strike drones finished them.
Geolocated footage cited in the report shows Ukrainian forces detecting and destroying two Russian self-propelled artillery guns in the town of Huliaipole. A fixed-wing strike drone ensured their destruction, leaving nothing salvageable.
The barrage did not stop at the big guns. A Russian 2A65 Msta-B howitzer was hit and destroyed after Ukrainian fire blew up the shelter it was positioned in — along with the artillery shells stored on site, turning a gun position into a secondary explosion. Elsewhere, a T-55 tank that Russian troops had driven into a residential house for cover was found and destroyed.
A collapsing artillery park: base flattened, guns scattered
Ukrainian fire also struck a large Russian operating base, collapsing a full half of a building in on itself. High-altitude reconnaissance drones directed the fire from above throughout the operation, giving Ukrainian gunners a persistent eye over Russian positions.
The cumulative damage is forcing Russian commanders into improvisation. Continuous losses to Ukrainian counterbattery fire have left Russian units fielding what the report describes as a hodgepodge of tanks, self-propelled guns, and towed artillery pieces instead of unified, coordinated artillery batteries — a sign that trained crews and standard equipment are running short. The tally from this single episode: one tank, one self-propelled gun, and at least eleven Russian towed artillery pieces destroyed.
The daily toll: Kyiv reports Russian guns falling by the dozen
The Orikhiv strikes are not an isolated success. Ukraine's General Staff reported on September 29 that Russian forces lost another 21 artillery systems in a single 24-hour period, bringing Moscow's cumulative estimated artillery losses since the start of the full-scale invasion to 50,498 guns. The same report put Russian personnel losses at 1,440 over the day, with total estimated personnel losses reaching approximately 1,532,500.
Two days earlier, the figures were even starker: the General Staff reported 57 Russian artillery systems destroyed in one day on September 27, alongside 1,690 personnel losses. The heaviest fighting was recorded in the Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk sectors, with Russian forces also launching assaults in the Lyman and Huliaipole sectors. These are Ukrainian military estimates and have not been independently verified, but the trend across weeks of reporting is consistent: Russian artillery is being destroyed faster than it can be replaced.
Why Russia's fire support is failing
Military analysts have pointed to a deeper structural problem behind the numbers. The Institute for the Study of War has assessed that Ukraine's systematic intermediate-range strike campaign against Russian logistics in occupied territory has degraded Russian fuel supplies to the frontline and strained Russia's ability to use drones and electronic warfare to protect against Ukrainian drones.
Russian electronic warfare systems have significant power-consumption requirements and run on diesel-powered generators. By striking fuel and logistics, Ukraine is effectively suppressing the Russian electronic warfare umbrella — enabling what analysts call tactical drone overmatch, in which Ukrainian reconnaissance and strike drones operate with growing freedom while Russian guns are hunted down.
That overmatch is visible in the Orikhiv episode: high-altitude Ukrainian reconnaissance drones loitered over Russian positions directing fire, a scenario that would have been far riskier months ago under intact Russian electronic warfare coverage.
For Moscow, the implications go beyond a bad week for its artillery. Artillery has been the backbone of Russian ground operations since 2022, and its systematic destruction is steadily eroding the fire support Russian infantry depends on to advance or hold ground — just as Kyiv's guns grow more precise.
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