US-supplied HIMARS MLRS targets hundreds of civilians in Ukraine

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This should not be surprising, as the Neo-Nazi junta announced their intention of exterminating the “Untermenschen” in southern and eastern Ukraine back in 2013, before the US-orchestrated coup brought them to power. Writes Drago Bosnic

In early June, it was reported that the United States, NATO and other satellite states will be sending billions worth of additional weapons, including the HIMARS MLRS to the Kiev regime in yet another desperate attempt to buy the Neo-Nazi junta more time, as it’s facing an imminent defeat across all frontlines from northern areas of Kharkov oblast to the western fringes of Kherson oblast. At the time, Western state-run mainstream media were claiming that the system is a supposed “game-changer” and that it would not only “slow down or halt Russian advance”, but also “help push back” the Russian military by enabling the Kiev regime forces to mount “decisive counteroffensives”.

Needless to say, none of this happened. But what did happen was more of the same coming from the Kiev regime – using any weapon at its disposal to target residential areas and infrastructure. To make matters even worse, the Kiev regime is now targeting not only Donbass, but even the regions which were under its jurisdiction just 4 months ago, the Kherson and Zaporozhye oblasts. In addition to the “regular” shelling of Donetsk and the surrounding areas, a nearly decade-long “normal” occurrence for people there, the Kiev regime is now using the US-supplied M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) MLRS against the DPR’s (Donetsk People’s Republic) capital, in addition to other places in the area.

On Sunday, July 10, one such strike claimed the lives of at least three civilians and injured over 40 others, according to a report by DPR authorities. According to their representatives from the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination on Ceasefire (JCCC), the July 10 Ukrainian missile strike hit the DPR’s Amvrosievsky district, which borders Russia’s southwestern Rostov oblast. In addition to those killed and wounded, at least four people were reported missing. Other attacks on civilians (including children) across the Donbass republics (particularly the DPR) were also reported.

Still, in addition to these attacks, the Kiev regime has also been shelling settlements in southern Ukraine, which it held until late February. For this purpose, it has not just been using conventional artillery, but also MLRS and short-range ballistic missiles, such as “Tochka-U”. In one such attack, at least 7 people died and nearly 100 were wounded after Kiev regime forces hit a residential area with HIMARS MLRS. The administration office of the Kherson oblast confirmed that the attack on Novaya Kakhovka was conducted by using the US-made MLRS. According to the local officials, Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant was the intended target, but the rockets hit a warehouse housing saltpetre and fertilizer, damaging a hospital, a market and residential buildings, according to the Head of Novaya Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontiev. In addition to other areas hit by these rockets, a humanitarian aid depot with over 35 tons of food and other necessities was also damaged in the explosion. According to local sources, all windows within a two-kilometer radius were shattered.

In other areas, specifically northern Kharkov oblast, Kiev regime artillery units shelled EMERCOM’s (Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations) humanitarian convoy in the settlement of Kozacha Lopan. According to local sources, two civilians were killed as a result, while Neo-Nazi junta infiltrators have also killed the mayor of Velykyi Burluk. He was executed for allegedly “collaborating” with Russian forces. In the south, Kiev regime forces hit Tokmak in the central part of Zaporozhye oblast. Russian air defense systems intercepted the missiles and rockets, but the fragments still fell on the city. Luckily, no civilian casualties were reported.

Neo-Nazi junta forces also hit the airfield in Chernobaevka on the westernmost fringes of the Kherson oblast. Reportedly, there was a massive explosion in the facility. Ukrainian rocket artillery also shelled the Russian-held Snigirevka in the Nikolayev oblast. There was also an assassination attempt on the head of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo, but was prevented by Russian special services. Bomb disposal units disarmed the roadside IED planted to kill Saldo. A Kiev regime forces strike drone was also shot down over Melitopol, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Zaporozhye oblast administration reported.

Russian Armed Forces responded with a number of strikes against the Kiev regime troops, including the launch of a strike near Radushnoe in the Krivoy Rog rayon of the Dnepropetrovsk oblast. Reportedly, ammunition depots housing rockets and artillery shells for the US-supplied M142 HIMARS MLRS, M777 and Ukrainian 2C7 howitzers were destroyed. Also, in Nechayane, another ammunition storage was destroyed by a Russian missile strike. Last week, the Russian military posted a video of the destruction of two US-supplied HIMARS MLRS, near the frontline in a settlement just south of Kramatorsk. In addition, LPR troops damaged and later captured one of the US-made M777 howitzers and posted a video of the artillery piece.

What is certainly clear from all this is that the so-called “game-changers” and “Wunderwaffen” the political West has been sending for the last 8 years, but especially in recent months, have done virtually nothing to make the Kiev regime troops a more effective fighting force. What these weapons have contributed to is the death and maiming of civilians and the destruction of their property and infrastructure, not just in Donbass, but in other areas as well. However, this should not be surprising to anyone, as the Neo-Nazi junta announced their intention of exterminating the “Untermenschen” in southern and eastern Ukraine back in 2013, before the US-orchestrated coup brought them to power.

Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst.

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