Ukraine uses HIMARS systems for the first time

Representatives for Luhansk People's Republic at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) used the US-made M142 HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) for the first time. A message posted on the Telegram channel of the departments noted that a HIMARS rocket struck the settlement of Perevalsk.

"The shelling was recorded from the side of the armed formations of Ukraine: at 07.20 from the direction of the settlement of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) on the settlement of Perevalsk with the use of the M142 HIMARS MLRS (one missile)," the report said.

According to Lieutenant Colonel of the People's Militia of the LPR Andrey Marochko, this is the first time when Ukraine used HIMARS MLRS.

On June 25, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valeriy Zaluzhny announced that USA's HIMARS systems were already in use on a territory that was not controlled by Ukraine.

John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the White House National Security Council (NSC), said on June 23 that the United States would allocate a $450 million of military assistance to Ukraine.

Russia's Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov warned that USA's ongoing arms supplies to Ukraine would only spin the spiral of the conflict and raise the threat of further escalation with unpredictable consequences.

In turn, Alexander Perendzhiev, a military political scientist, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, said that with the help of HIMARS systems, Ukraine may try to launch rocket attacks deep into the Russian territory, including Moscow and resort towns.

Vasily Nebenzya, Russia's Ambassador to the UN, stated during his speech at the Security Council that Moscow reserved the right to move the threat lines away from the borders of Russia and Donbass to a distance equal to the effective range of the American multiple launch rocket systems that had been delivered to Ukraine. He also said that Russia would inflict pinpoint missile strikes targeting military decision-making centers should Kyiv use HIMARS systems.