Ukrainian MoD: HIMARS arrive in Ukraine
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After finalizing the necessary training, the US delivery of HIMARS artillery has now arrived in Ukraine.
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HIMARS delivery arrives in Ukraine
Ukraine received, on Thursday, a delivery of precision artillery from the US. The weapons came in response to Kiev’s plea to the allies to support its military with advanced artillery in the war with Russia.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov stated via his Twitter account that the "HIMARS have arrived in Ukraine,” adding, “Thank you to my colleague and friend Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools! Summer will be hot for Russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them.”
HIMARS have arrived to Ukraine.
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) June 23, 2022
Thank you to my 🇺🇲 colleague and friend @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III for these powerful tools!
Summer will be hot for russian occupiers. And the last one for some of them. pic.twitter.com/BTmwadthpp
NATO partners and the US are pumping Ukraine with heavy armaments, however, the Ukrainian officials believe that what they have received so far is merely a fraction of what is needed to sustain their fight against the Kremlin.
Previously regarding the HIMARS
According to the Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, the Pentagon's remarks on HIMARS deliveries to Kiev show a willingness for escalation.
On June 14, Pentagon policy chief, Colin Kahl, stated that Ukrainian forces have nearly completed training on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) delivered by the United States and the United Kingdom.
In response to that statement, Moscow sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States warning that Washington and Brussels' arms shipments were adding fuel to the fire of the war in Ukraine, stressing that this matter could bring upon "unpredictable consequences".
Read more: US says Kiev to decide at what distance it uses HIMARS
Earlier in the month, the Head of the Russian Delegation to the Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna, Konstantin Gavrilov, told the Rossiya-24 TV channel Thursday that Russia will respond immediately in the event that it is attacked with long-range weapon systems.
"We particularly put the spotlight on the delivery [to Ukraine] of long-range howitzers and HIMARS MLRS that threaten not only Donbass but Russia as well. We have clearly laid out Russia’s stance: if the Russian Federation is attacked with these long-range systems, the response against the decision-making centers will be immediate," he said, adding, "I think, this is happening not without the involvement of Ukraine’s military and political leadership. I am not ruling out anything anymore," Gavrilov stressed.
