‘Scalpel’-like US missile launchers destroy 50 ammunition dumps
American-supplied Himars missile launchers have destroyed more than 50 Russian ammunition dumps since they arrived on the battlefield last month, Ukraine’s defence minister has said.
Oleksiy Reznikov told Ukrainian television that the “scalpel”-like accuracy of the high mobility artillery rocket systems had significantly eroded Russia’s supply chains and its ability to conduct “active fighting and cover our armed forces with heavy shelling”.
“We are talking about 50 sites in terms of ammunition storage locations alone,” he told Ukrainian television.
“Our gunners use Himars very precisely — like a surgeon with a scalpel,” he added.
“And you can even see this in the photos of some bridge crossings where [the shells] are very accurately placed in the area of the seams of the bridge connections.”
He did not give specific details, but Ukraine has struck three bridges across the Dnieper in Russianoccupied Kherson in recent days.
The strikes appear to be designed to isolate Russian units on the right bank of the Dnieper as a Ukrainian counter-offensive designed to retake Kherson picks up steam. Russia’s defence ministry said yesterday that it had destroyed a Ukrainian depot containing Himars ammunition.
The US has sent Ukraine eight Himars since late June, with another four promised. Pentagon officials said last week that they would send another four, bringing the total num- ber to 16. The truck-borne rocket launchers are longer range and more accurate than the Soviet-era artillery Ukraine has previously relied on. They can also fire and move in just two minutes, making them difficult for Russia to attack.
Ukrainian troops have recently reported a sharp drop in shelling and casualties in the east of the country.
Bogdan Dmitruk, a battalion com- mander in Ukraine’s 93rd mechanised brigade, told The Washington Post last weekend that shelling on the front line near Izyum is now “10 times less” than before.
— Telegraph Group Ltd