A TOS-1A Solntsepyok rocket launcher at a Russian military parade.Image: Shutterstock
The superiority of Russian troops also had a psychological effect in the Ukraine war. This makes a blow like the one that a Ukrainian brigade is said to have achieved in a Russian border region all the more important.
Feb 7, 2026, 7:42 p.mFeb 7, 2026, 7:42 p.m
Nathalie Trappe /
Since the beginning of the conflict, the war in Ukraine has revealed the remarkable dimensions of Russian weapons arsenals, whose technical performance is often considered superior. Many systems boast range, firepower and robustness that challenge even state-of-the-art defenses.
An example of this is TOS-1A Solntsepyok thermobaric rocket launchers. Russia has been using this controversial and particularly powerful type of weapon for years. During the course of the war, entire city districts were sometimes destroyed.
Instead of a single explosion, when the individual rockets are fired, a cloud of flammable aerosol is released, which is distributed in the surrounding area. Only in the second step is this cloud ignited, which leads to a very strong pressure wave and extreme heat.
Ukraine succeeds in destroying Russian rocket launcher
Now the Ukrainian armed forces appear to have managed to destroy one of these weapons. As the “Kyiv Post” According to reports, drone pilots from the “Bulava” battalion recently carried out an attack in the Russian region of Belgorod.
A video from the brigade on YouTube is said to show a total of four strikes by FPV drones on the Solntsepyok. A massive detonation can then be seen, which completely destroys the rocket launcher.
According to the Kyiv Post, the value of the weapon is around 10 to 15 million dollars. Accordingly, it is the first-ever confirmed destruction of this type of weapon by Ukrainian troops.
The video recordings cannot be independently verified. Since the start of the war, Ukraine is said to have destroyed a total of 24 Solntsepyok systems, and six more have been damaged in the past. The TOS-1A type was not among them so far.
An event from 2024 shows how powerful the now destroyed system is. At that time, three Russian soldiers were killed when ammunition from a thermobaric warhead of the Solntsepyok type exploded in the Belgorod region.