Posted on 07/18/2022 11:20:51 AM PDT by dennisw
KYIV, Ukraine—Russia ordered its forces to target the long-range missiles and artillery weapons that Western countries have recently supplied to Ukraine, a sign of how Kyiv’s additional firepower has begun to reshape the conflict.
On Monday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told a group of Russian troops to make Ukraine’s long-range weaponry a priority target to prevent shelling in parts of eastern Ukraine held by Russian forces, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
A recent shipment of advanced Western weapons has reinforced Ukraine’s efforts to fend off Russia’s invasion. Whether those weapons will enable Kyiv to turn the tide remains unclear, say Western officials.
U.S. Himars mobile rocket launchers and other systems from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries have enabled Ukraine to strike Russian bases far behind the front lines, including ammunition depots. That has marked a shift from weeks earlier, when Ukraine was largely outgunned by Russia’s heavy artillery, allowing Russian troops to gain ground in eastern Ukraine.
The Pentagon has dispatched eight Himars to Ukraine and has pledged to deliver another four. Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said last week that Kyiv had also received the first M270 multiple-launch rocket systems pledged by the U.K., Germany and Norway.
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On Monday, Ukraine struck a warehouse in Nova Kakhovka, in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, north of Crimea. “Explosions have been heard in the Novokakhovsk community since the morning,” Serhii Khlan, a member of the regional council, wrote in a social-media post. “The enemy’s ammunition is burning and detonating again.”
Ukrainian forces have been cautious in using the Western-supplied artillery systems. Whenever they fire these systems, they risk giving away their position to Russian troops who are ready with observation drones and heavy artillery. That means Ukrainian field commanders are giving priority to high-value targets and at times passing up solitary ones, even though a single Russian tank can inflict significant damage on a Ukrainian infantry unit.
The Western missile launchers and artillery are also mounted on trucks, allowing them to relocate quickly upon firing, frustrating Russia’s efforts to strike back.
As the West ferries long-range weapons into Ukraine, Russia’s military has stepped up missile strikes on positions that are far from the front lines. Some of these strikes have led to mass casualties, such as one at a train station in Kramatorsk, where nearly 60 were killed and more than 100 injured, and another at a shopping mall in Kremenchuk that killed at least 20. Earlier this month, a Russian missile strike on a five-story structure in Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region, killed at least 48.
Russia’s shortage of more modern precision-strike weapons is likely to result in further civilian casualties, according to British intelligence. Russia has repeatedly said its forces don’t target civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Russia had fired more than 3,000 cruise missiles during the war so far. Russia fired more than 60 rockets overnight at residential areas and city infrastructure in Nikopol, a city located northeast of the Kherson region. “We have been under enemy fire again,” wrote Valentyn Reznichenko, a local military administration official, on his Telegram channel.
Wouldn’t you???
Uhhh, they weren’t doing this before????
Well, DUH!!
The Ukies probably scoot with their new weaponry into the Ukrainian forested area to hide them. And since the Russian air force and helicopters are mostly useless...These weapons will remain well hidden until it is time to shoot and scoot again.
These weapons crews keeping radio and cellphone silence while hiding out.
File this under”Duh”
“Uhhh, they weren’t doing this before????”
Sergei Shoigu says now a PRIORITY target! So achtung Russkie soldiers, go find them!
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“Uhhh, they weren’t doing this before????”
Should have been, but probably not as their top priority as the Western weapons weren’t much of a threat to them, and they appreciated the Western countries needlessly emptying out their armories. And I suspect that they even allowed the war to drag on a bit, for just that reason.
Tough to find. They are all out on the black market or already sold.
Troops can slack off and get tired. So Sergei Shoigu is lighting a fire under their azzes and demanding that Russian army makes this a priority. To find and destroy the new Ukie long range weaponry. The new howitzers and new HIMAR racked rockets.
I’ve always thought about the rules of engagement. Russia knows the CIA is supplying the weapons and there must have been an “understanding” the same way spies get captured and exchanged. I guess they finally said “nyet” to the spooks.
Ukrainians destroyed many high value Russian assets days ago. Days later, Shoigu reissues the order that’s been given so many times before. ;D
Those American weapons are sophisticated and take considerable training to use them effectively. Anyone care to speculate just who is firing them and manning the targeting systems?
Once such occurs and gets reported via media, we should all know soon enough if they are ‘US advisors’ or whatever once they started getting vamped along with their munitions/equipment.
Let’s hope this was true about the assassination attempt on Patrushev.
I’m sure this is a revelation to the semiliterates in the media.
The real reason the Ukes arent using the new systems much couldvbe that they already sold them off.
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