Pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine report massive shelling with US weapons
- Ukrainian forces fired numerous rockets at positions in Luhansk, a province captured by Russia earlier this month
- Newly arrived systems from the West has given Ukraine capability to attack deeper into Russian-controlled territory
Ukraine launched long-range rocket attacks at the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Luhansk in the east of the country, as Kyiv’s forces use newly-arrived systems from the West with growing efficiency.
There had been mass firing from the US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) launcher, separatist representative Andrey Marochko announced in his blog on the Telegram news channel.
The rockets were fired at Luhansk from the village of Artemivsk in the Donetsk region late on Tuesday evening. Several missiles hit their targets.
The Ukrainian side also reported the use of the multiple rocket launcher. The head of the Ukrainian military administration for the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said that military depots of the enemy were being destroyed.
In the industrial zone of Luhansk, it was not at all quiet the previous night, he said on Wednesday. However, Russian occupiers would continue to attack from all sides – with air force and artillery. The large cities of the Donetsk region were particularly threatened, he said.
The Ukrainian armed forces also released a video of the deployment of the HIMARS system. Russian media had reported heavy explosions as well as a large fire near the city of Luhansk on Tuesday night.