US is about to give devastating weapon to Ukraine, Russia is furious

The weapon has been at the top of Ukraine’s wish list for weeks for new weapons to stop the Russian army in the Donbas. The US government is considering sending the advanced missile system to Ukraine in the near future, government officials confirmed to CNN. This may already be announced next week as part of a new weapons package for Kyiv.

The devastating MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) system could become a significant threat to the Russian military. With the missiles, Ukraine would be able to shell Russian positions for the first time over a long distance, up to 300 kilometers. The US howitzers that Ukraine has received so far do not reach more than 40 to 50 kilometers.

The weapon offers the possibility to put an end to the shelling of cities by the Russian artillery. The Russian navy, which fires cruise missiles from the Black Sea and blocks Ukrainian ports, could also be bombed. The Kremlin is therefore increasing pressure on the White House not to give the modern missile system to the Ukrainian army.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Thursday that this would be a “big step towards unacceptable escalation” as the missiles could also hit Russian territory. This is one of the reasons why the US has so far refused to give the precision weapon to Ukraine. The Biden administration also feared that Moscow would perceive the delivery as a major provocation.

Huge Explosions

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian government has been encouraging the US not to heed Russian warnings and move quickly to supply the multiple-missile system. President Volodymyr Zelensky hoped that this would be decided last week at a meeting on new arms aid to Kyiv.

But then the White House held off. ‘We are calling on all countries to provide the MLRS system. With that we can take the initiative and liberate our territory’, says Zelensky. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry showed a video on Thursday to show what the Russians are doing with their own MLRS systems in the Donbas. Countless rockets descend on Ukrainian positions in the Donetsk region in 19 seconds. Then huge explosions follow.

“This is what the biggest and most horrific war of the 21st century looks like,” the ministry said on Twitter about a Russian attack with the TOS-1 system. Ukraine is ready to strike back. To do this we need MLRS. Straight away.’ Ukraine hopes that European countries, which also possess the weapon, will follow if the Americans proceed to deliver it. Foreign Minister Dmytro Koeleba said on Wednesday that he had spoken with ten countries that have the missile system, including the British. ‘MLRS, as soon as possible’, says Koeleba.

Precision Bombing

The missile system, developed by the US and several European countries, is a response to similar weapons that the Russians produced on a large scale during the Cold War. With their MLRS systems, the Russians wanted to overwhelm and destroy an area with countless missiles in a short time during a war.

With the American weapon, the Ukrainian army, depending on the ammunition used, will soon be able to target Russian troops, artillery, tanks and ships from 30 to 310 kilometers away. The standard ammunition is a missile that contains 644 smaller grenades that are scattered above the target and then descend. With a salvo of twelve missiles, more than seven thousand smaller bombs can be dropped.

However, the missile system can also perform precision bombardments with missiles guided to their target by GPS. Ukraine asked the US for a modern version of the weapon, the Himars, which is lightweight and therefore highly mobile. This can be moved quickly to immediately escape Russian counterfire after a salvo.

Attacks on Russia

At 2 to 5 million euros, the missile system is the most expensive American weapon that Ukraine would get its hands on. It is also the first foreign weapon to allow Ukrainian generals to target Russian territory from a great distance. Russia’s supply routes and military bases near the border, such as in Belgorod, become vulnerable if MLRS appears on the scene.

Moscow has accused Kyiv of carrying out several secretive attacks on Russian territory just across the border in recent months. For example, helicopters bombarded oil depots. Ukraine, however, remained silent about the Russian allegations.

One option the US administration is still considering to address Russian concerns is to supply short-range missiles. This is to prevent Ukraine from being tempted to use the missile system for offensive operations.

Increase in significant losses

The deployment of the destructive MLRS system in the Donbas could lead to a sharp increase in the already high Russian losses. A senior Pentagon official said on Thursday that nearly 1,000 Russian tanks had been destroyed or disabled in three months of war. This is an unprecedented number. This means that nearly a third of the tanks Russia had operational before the war were lost in the heavy fighting.

More than 350 artillery pieces are also reported to have been knocked out, as well as more than 30 fighters and bombers and more than 50 helicopters. “But they still have a lot of weapons available,” the senior official warned during a briefing. Russia has stockpiled some ten thousand tanks, ranging from the widely used T-72 and the modern T-80 to the very old T-62 from the 1960s.

Ukraine’s military leadership claimed this week that the Russians have removed T-62s from their depots for new combat units to be sent to Ukraine. Images are circulating on social media of T-62s being transported to the border by rail. However, these reports have not yet been confirmed by independent sources. Most of the Russian tanks destroyed in Ukraine were T-72s. Moscow still has thousands of T-72s in the warehouses.