Russian Defense Ministry Says 40 Ukrainian Prisoners Of War Killed And 75 Injured In US-made HIMARS Attack

Ukrainian soldiers attack Russia with HIMARS. (Wikimedia Commons/General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces)

JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Ministry has announced that at least 40 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been killed and 75 injured in an attack on a prison in separatist-held territory.

"A missile strike from the US-made double launch rocket system (HIMARS) was carried out at the pre-trial detention center in the residential area of Olenivka, where Ukrainian military prisoners of war, including fighters from the Azov battalion, are being held," the defense ministry said in its daily briefing, reported Reuters July 29.

As a result of the attack, "40 Ukrainian POWs were killed and 75 injured," and eight prison staff were also injured, the ministry added. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield report.

The Ukrainian army is said to have the opportunity to retake the initiative, taking advantage of the extra range and precision offered by the more sophisticated artillery provided by Western allies in recent weeks, notably the HIMARS Ukraine has been looking for.

“Right now, Russia is missing out on the initiative, and Ukraine has or will have it,” explains George Barros, geospatial and Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, citing The Washington Post.

“HIMARS is the key to that.”

HIMARS gave Ukraine the ability to strike nearly 50 miles behind Russian lines with a high degree of accuracy. Ukraine has used it to destroy more than 100 high-value Russian targets, including command and control centers, ammunition stores, logistics and support facilities, according to a senior US defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge the information.

More recently, Ukrainian forces have used HIMARS to press counterattacks towards the strategically vital southern city of Kherson, which was occupied by Russia in the first days of the war.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is "gathering momentum," the UK Ministry of Defense said in a tweet on Thursday, following Tuesday's third HIMARS attack on the heavily damaged Antonovsky Bridge over the Dnipro River on a vital road link.

The bridge, which is more than half a mile long, provides a key supply route between Russia's 49th Army stationed on the west bank of the river and other Russian forces, and the attack leaves troops there "extremely vulnerable," the tweet said. added.

The biggest effect of HIMARS so far has been to erode the overwhelming advantage of Russian artillery, both in terms of the number of guns and the rounds they can fire, said Rob Lee of the Philadelphia-based Institute for Foreign Policy Research.