Russian military reporter Aleksandr ‘Sasha’ Kots showed off the Russian forces’ super-sized 2S4 “Tyulpan” (“Tulip”) 240mm self-propelled mortar specifically designed to destroy fortified positions, buildings, and infrastructure being used in Ukraine. Upon viewing the video, the Ukrainians managed to geolocate their positions and destroy the self-propelled mortar, leaving Kots to be an unlikely accomplice in the destruction of the Russian military equipment.

Kots, who works for Komsomolskaya Pravada, featured several clips of his report of the Tyulpan self-propelled mortars to be firing in the city of Severodonetsk.  Severodonetsk is one of the new areas that had been the focal point of the fighting since Russia shifted its focus to completely liberate the Donbas region from the “Nazis,” a claim that has been proven to be false by most of the world’s independent media.

According to Kots, the Tyulpan was wreaking havoc upon the Ukrainian forces, and it was being used by Russian-backed separatists in Donbas to destroy a bridge. The Tyulpan was reportedly repositioned from Mariupol after they had “captured” the city. Several open-source data collectors monitoring the Russo-Ukrainian war have confirmed the presence of the 2S4 Tyulpan in Mariupol. It was photographed firing a shell at several targets in Mariupol. It is rumored that the weapon is responsible for many civilian killings in the besieged city.

https://twitter.com/PaulJawin/status/1528679311888326658

The bridge in question is the Pavlograd Bridge, which was destroyed because it was the main supply line from Severodonetsk across the Donets river, where Ukrainian forces are situated. If completely encircled, the Ukrainians may face another Mariupol situation, where their troops are isolated.

However, recent intel suggests that the Russian forces have abandoned their efforts to completely encircle Ukrainian forces in the east and instead prefer smaller encirclements. This may prove to be vital for the Russian forces to gain some ground in Ukraine. Fighting has been mostly focused in Popasna and surrounding areas, while incremental gains had been recorded for the Russians in the areas of Voronove to areas in Lysychansk. If proven that the Russians can fully encircle Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk, the Ukrainians may be in for a bit of a fight to fend off Russian advances.