The Ukrainians have begun to use Western donated weapons like HIMARS to hit Russian positions deeper within occupied territories. The Wall Street Journal’s Isabel Coles and Evan Gershkovich report:
Ukrainian forces struck an air-defense system in Russian-occupied territory in the east of the country late Tuesday, in the latest sign of how long-range artillery sent by the West is shifting the war’s calculus.
Russian state news agencies reported that Ukrainian forces had launched a strike on an air-defense system protecting the skies over Luhansk, the capital of one of two Russian-created statelets in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area.
The strike is the latest in a series that Ukraine has conducted against high-value targets such as ammunition depots and command posts since multiple-launch rocket systems known as Himars began arriving from the U.S. last month.
“The occupiers have already felt very well what modern artillery is, and they will not have a safe rear anywhere on our land,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address overnight.
Footage posted on social media by residents of Luhansk late Tuesday showed a large explosion. Russian military correspondents said on social media that an ammunition dump in Luhansk’s industrial area had been hit.
“The armed forces of Ukraine launched a massive attack on the military air-defense unit, which ensures the security of the city of Luhansk,” said Andriy Marochko, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic people’s militia.
The Luhansk People’s Republic later said nine missiles had been fired at Luhansk from American-made Himars.
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