The United States Pentagon claims a statement made on August 2 by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that six American HIMARS multiple launch rocket launchers (MLRS) were destroyed in Ukraine is “patently false,” insisting that the Ukrainian army is successfully using provided weapons extremely effectively.
Todd Breasseale, the Pentagon’s acting spokesperson, commented, “What is happening, however, is that the Ukrainians are employing, with devastating accuracy and effectiveness, each of the fully accounted for precision missile systems the U.S., our Allies, and partners have provided them to defend against Russia’s brutal, criminal invasion.”
HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, is an American-supplied missile system that Ukraine has used to deprive Russia of a critical advantage in recent months. According to Ukrainian authorities, in the middle of July, the U.S. provided 6 HIMARS rocket systems to Ukrainian Armed Forces, and 30 additional HIMARS systems are on their way.
Early on, the Russian offensive succeeded in eastern Ukraine due to its quantitative advantage in artillery. Since July the Ukrainian army has used HIMARS to destroy the weakest part of the Russian military machine – logistics and weapon depots – reaching targets 40 – 80 kilometers from the front lines.
Approximately 20 large warehouses were blown up and, in most of them, the entire supply of shells and missiles detonated, forcing the Russian forces to rebuild their supply system for groups in the Donbas and Kherson Regions.
Ukraine has also targeted Russian military bases and concentrations of Russian servicemen. As a result of a HIMARS strike on July 11, the Russian commander of the 20th Guards Motorized Rifle Division, Colonel Alexei Gorobets, and several Russian officers of his headquarters were killed.
All the targets were attacked 40-80 kilometers from the front line with the help of high-precision missiles just delivered to Ukraine from the U.S. and the UK MLRS HIMARS and M270 (installations on a wheeled and tracked base, respectively). The attacks were unpunished: no proven losses of multiple rocket launchers.
