Destroys 50 Russian Ammunition Depots With HIMARS From The US, Ukrainian Defense Minister: Cut The Logistics Chain And Eliminate Their Combat Ability

Illustration HIMARS. (Wikimedia Commons/DVIDSHUB)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov claims his military has successfully destroyed 50 Russian ammunition depots with HIMARS since acquiring the weapons from the United States last month.

In an interview on national television, Reznikov said the strategic impact of the existence of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) when Ukraine tried to repel the Russian invasion.

"This cuts off their (Russian) logistics chain and deprives them of their ability to carry out active combat and protect our armed forces with heavy fire," Reznikov said.

Reuters could not independently verify Reznikov's statement. Russia did not immediately comment. Read more

Reznikov said Ukrainian artillery crews had carried out "precise" strikes on several bridges. He did not provide details, but appeared to be referring to three river crossings in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, which local occupation authorities said were attacked by HIMARS over the past week.

Reznikov also said Ukraine had received three Gepard anti-aircraft armored fighting vehicles, the first of 15 expected, continuing Kyiv expects to take delivery of several dozen Leopard tanks.

Earlier, Russia said it had destroyed several HIMARS systems although Ukraine has denied this. In the latest report, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday its troops had destroyed an ammunition depot for the HIMARS system in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that Western arms supplies are critical to Ukraine's military efforts, and underlined the importance of HIMARS because of the supremacy of Russian artillery in terms of numbers and ammunition.

It is known that HIMARS has a longer range and is more precise than the Soviet-era artillery that Ukraine has in its arsenal. Russia has criticized the United States in particular for providing Ukraine with instructors to help Ukrainian forces use HIMARS.