Receiving A Supply Of Artillery Rockets From The US, Ukrainian Defense Minister: Summer Will Be Hot For Russian Invaders

JAKARTA - Ukraine has received supplies of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from the United States.

With this powerful long-range weapons system it is hoped that it will help Kiev turn the tide of the Russian invasion.

Moscow's troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to seize the industrial heartland known as the Donbas, where Ukraine fears some of its troops could be outflanked by Russian forces.

“Thanks to my colleague and friend in the US, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for these advanced tools! Summer will be hot for the Russian invaders. And lastly for some of them," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted about the delivery of HIMARS.

He did not say how many systems had arrived. Ukraine says it needs the HIMARS system to better match the range of Russian rocket systems it says are widely used to hit Ukrainian positions in the Donbas.

Fearing an escalation of the conflict, Washington said it had received assurances from Kiev that the long-range weapons would not be used against Russian soil.

Moscow has warned it will strike targets in Ukraine that they "have not hit" if the West supplies long-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile rocket systems.