From Pravda – According to The Times columnist George Grylls, who refers to sources in Ukraine’s defence circles, Kyiv plans to use the missiles to strike targets inside the Crimea.
Sources in Ukraine’s Defence Ministry confirmed that Kyiv was working on such a scenario, the newspaper said. Negotiations are currently underway to specify the number of missiles that the UK could send to Ukraine. The parties conduct such discussions despite concerns that cross-border strikes could escalate the conflict, The Times said.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Western longer-range weapons would enable the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike Russian military facilities in the depths of the occupied territories, i.e. in the Crimea.
As a result of Zelensky’s visit to the UK, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed that London was ready to deliver longer-range weapons to Ukraine. No other details were reported. Sunak did not exclude a possibility to supply fighter jets to Ukraine as well.
- Harpoon anti-ship missiles have a range of 150 miles (approximately 240 kilometers). They can be adjusted to strike ground targets.
- Storm Shadow aircraft missiles are capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 350 miles (approximately 560 kilometres).
It appears that the UK may go farther than the USA at this point as Washington supplies shorter-range projectiles.
Earlier it was reported that the United States would send military assistance to Ukraine worth 2.175 billion dollars. The package will include high-precision missiles and HAWK anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as other ammunition and weapons. Later, Pentagon officials indicated that the United States did not prohibit the Ukrainian authorities from using long-range projectiles that were included in the military aid package to strike targets inside the Crimea.
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the United States would cross the “red line” and become a party to the conflict should Washington start supplying longer-range missiles to Ukraine.
Source: Pravda – UK readies to cross the red line that USA does not dare to cross
US role in Kiev’s artillery warfare identified
From Russia Today – The American military is “controlling every shot” with Pentagon-supplied rockets, a Ukrainian official told the Washington Post.
The Ukrainian military requests precise coordinates from the Pentagon for almost every rocket fired from US-made artillery systems, and would not fire a shot without getting them, according to a report by the Washington Post.
Three Ukrainian officials and one senior US official spoke to the newspaper, on condition of anonymity, about America’s involvement. One Ukrainian source implied that Washington has the final say on every action, making the case for the delivery of longer-range rockets to Kiev.
“You’re controlling every shot anyway, so when you say: ‘We’re afraid that you’re going to use it for some other purposes,’ well, we can’t do it even if we want to,” the senior official was quoted as saying.
The US official disputed the characterization, claiming that Ukraine selected targets and that the American side simply provided intelligence to make best use of the GPS-guided munitions. But the Ukrainian official said that when the US fails to provide coordinates as requested, Ukrainian troops simply don’t open fire.
The US has supplied the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to prop up the Ukrainian military against Russia, while the UK has sent the M270 Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
Both systems can fire various types of rockets, but the US has declined to provide the longest-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) tactical ballistic missiles. Washington reportedly has concerns that Kiev would use them to attack targets in Russia, while Kiev has been lobbying for lifting the restriction.
Russian officials have accused Washington of waging a proxy war against it, citing, among other things, its role in targeting Ukrainian strikes.
HIMARS launchers were reportedly used in attacks on civilian targets, such as the October 2022 strike on a river crossing in Kherson Region, which killed four and injured 13 others. A Ukrainian military spokesperson claimed at the time that the victims were Russian troops disguised as civilians.
Another incident occurred in January, and involved a HIMARS strike on a hospital in the city of Novoaydar in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The attack killed 14 people and injured 24 others, according to the Russian military.