Ukraine's Coastline Defenses Are Creepy: After Neptune, Now There's Harpoons And Howitzers

JAKARTA - Russia should start rethinking attacking Ukraine from the sea side. Ukraine's military power is now getting stronger after receiving reinforcements from Western countries.

Ukraine officially received the Harpoon anti-ship missile from Denmark and the self-propelled Howitzer from the US. The confirmation was announced directly by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov.

With this weapon system, Oleksiy Reznikov is sure to support the troops fighting the Russian invasion.

"Our country's coastal defenses will not only be strengthened by Harpoon missiles - they will be used by trained Ukrainian teams," Reznikov wrote on his Facebook page.

He said the Harpoon coast-to-ship missiles would be operated alongside Ukraine's Neptune missiles in the country's coastal defenses including the southern port of Odesa.

The missile marks the first time Kyiv has received a US-made weapon to significantly increase its strike range.

Ukraine is known to have been trying to acquire more sophisticated weapons such as air defense systems, anti-ship missiles and long-range rockets. So far, however, most assistance has been in the form of short-range systems, such as anti-tank guns and Javelin artillery.

The Harpoon, made by Boeing Co., could be used to push the Russian Navy away from Ukraine's Black Sea ports, allowing exports of grain and other agricultural products to resume.

A little story about Neptune. The main ship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva 121 was badly damaged and its crew evacuated, after it was hit by an explosion that Ukraine claims was the result of a missile attack.

Maksym Marchenko, governor of Ukraine in the area around the Black Sea port of Odesa, said the warship Moskva had been hit by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.

"Neptune's missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage," he said in an online post.