U.S. military forces launch a high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) rocket during the annual live-fire amphibious landing exercise (PHIBLEX) between the Philippines and the United States at Crow Valley in Capas , Tarlac Province, North Manila, Philippines, October 10, 2016. REUTERS / Romeo Ranoco / Photo Archive
Register now for FREE and unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
- More than 30 Russian war logistics centers destroyed – Kyiv
- Ukraine says Western weapons have a big impact
- The new M270 rocket system has just arrived – Minister
Kyiv, July 15 (Reuters) – Ukrainian rocket attacks have destroyed more than 30 Russian military logistics centers in recent weeks and significantly reduced Russia’s attack potential, Defense Ministry spokesman said on Friday. Ukraine.
The official, Oleksandr Motuzianyk, highlighted the role played by HIMARS rocket systems produced in the United States, one of several types of long-range weapons supplied by the West to help Ukraine fight Russia.
“In recent weeks, more than 30 of the enemy’s military logistics facilities have been destroyed, as a result of which the attack potential of Russian forces has been significantly reduced,” Motuzianyk said. on national television.
Register now for FREE and unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Motuzianyk told Reuters in separate comments that all 30 targets were destroyed by multiple rocket launch systems, including HIMARS.
If confirmed, comments would suggest that Western weapons are having an impact on the battlefield and could indicate a change in the dynamics of the war after nearly five months.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24, has captured part of the territory in southern Ukraine and used its artillery supremacy in the east to achieve gradual territorial gains, and has finally captured the Luhansk region.
A senior Ukrainian general said Thursday that Russia had not taken “a single meter” of land in the past week and that Ukrainian attacks were disrupting Russian supply lines, forcing Moscow to keep its ammunition further away from the line. front. Reuters could not immediately confirm the battlefield reports.
HIMARS have a longer range and are more accurate than the Soviet-era artillery of Ukraine, allowing Ukrainian forces to strike Russian targets that were previously unattainable.
On Friday, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine said that Kyiv had received a first shipment of M270 multi-rocket launch systems, without specifying which country provided them.
Russia on Thursday criticized the United States and Britain for helping train Ukraine’s armed forces, calling it part of NATO’s “hybrid war” against Moscow. He said Washington was providing Ukraine with instructors to help use HIMARS.
Kyiv said this week that its forces carried out attacks on Russian military infrastructure in a city located in the depths of Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine.
Motuzianyk also said that only 30% of Russian attacks hit military targets, and the rest landed in civilian sites. This claim could not be verified by Reuters. Russia denies that it has deliberately targeted civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Register now for FREE and unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Report by Max Hunder; Written by Tom Balmforth; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien
Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.