Ukraine has promised Washington that it will not use US-supplied advanced rocket systems to hit targets within Russian territory, as Moscow warned that the measure runs the risk of a “third country” joining the war.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that following Joe Biden’s agreement to provide Ukraine with multi-launch rocket systems, Ukraine “has given us assurances that they will not use these systems against targets in territory. rus “.
The U.S. plans to supply the M142 (Himars) high-mobility artillery rocket system equipped with ammunition with a range of about 50 miles, but not the more advanced rockets that can fly 185 miles. Himars is light, very mobile and its crew can recharge quickly.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking to Saudi Arabia, said the supply of rocket launchers to Ukraine increased the risk of a “third country” being dragged into the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such supplies would not encourage Ukraine’s leadership to resume stalled peace talks. “We believe that the United States is adding fuel to the fire in a determined and diligent manner,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then [someone], you need to have experience with situations in which these promises were fulfilled. Unfortunately, there is no such experience. “
Shortly after the US decision was announced, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian nuclear forces were conducting drills in Ivanovo province, northeast of Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported.
The expectation is that Ukraine will be able to use rockets in the eastern Donbas region, where it could intercept Russian artillery and eliminate Russian positions in populations where fighting is intense, such as Sievierodonetsk.
With Ukraine facing backlash in the battle for the Donbas, Kyiv has been pushing hard for European and U.S. allies to supply long-range artillery systems in an attempt to restore the balance of its forces outnumbered and outnumbered in number in a war that has been increasingly dominated by intense artillery duels.
Each launcher can carry six GPS-guided rockets, which can be reloaded in about a minute, and the system is considered more advanced than other rocket systems currently used by Ukrainian forces.
Jonathan Finer, the White House’s deputy national security adviser, said Washington believed the system would meet Kyiv’s needs. “This is a defensive conflict that the Ukrainians are waging. Russian forces are on their territory,” Finer said in an interview with CNN.
He said there were important goals that the Ukrainians could not achieve with the weapons they had, and the rocket system would make a big difference in the conflict in the southeastern part of the country, where Russian forces are currently concentrated.
However, there was some skepticism among defense analysts about the significant impact that the surrender of Hymars could have on the battlefield in the immediate future, which led to questions about Ukraine’s ability to deploy it. effectively.
Franz-Stefan Gady, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, wrote on Twitter: “We have an incomplete picture of the current state of combat of the Ukrainian armed forces. It would be prudent to try to assess the how quickly Ukraine would be able to integrate new weapons platforms / systems to increase the effectiveness of combat in a larger-scale counter-offensive.
“Combined weapons maneuvering is a complex undertaking. What you don’t want is to launch poorly trained brigades into combat. Knowing how to use and make simple repairs in a rudimentary way in a weapons system is just the first step and does not indicate the effectiveness of units in real combat “.
While weapons will close part of the gap, allowing Ukraine to strike further behind Russian lines in Ukraine, in particular allowing it to go to command centers, other experts point out that the use of Hymars effectively will largely depend on the quality of intelligence on the battlefield of Ukraine.
Hymars’ pledge represents the 11th U.S. assistance package for Ukraine approved so far and will be the first to take advantage of the $ 40 billion in economic and security assistance package recently approved by Congress.
The rocket systems would be part of the Pentagon’s retreat authority, so their supply would involve taking weapons from the U.S. inventory and introducing them quickly to Ukraine. Ukrainian troops would need training on the new systems, which could take at least a week or two.
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Philip Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who was NATO’s top commander between 2013 and 2016, said Ukraine needed multi-launch rocket systems.
“These are very important capabilities that we have not yet achieved. And not only do they need them, but they have been very vocal in explaining that they want them,” he said. army so that it can do what the world demands of it: fight alone against a world superpower on the battlefield. “
Agencies have contributed to this article