Kiev, July 13, (dpa/GNA) – Ukrainian forces have fired numerous missiles at the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Luhansk in the east of the country.
There had been mass firing from the US-supplied high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) launcher, separatist representative Andrey Marochko announced in his blog on the Telegram news channel.
The rockets were fired at Luhansk from the village of Artemivsk in the Donetsk region late on Tuesday evening. Several missiles hit their targets.
The Ukrainian side also reported the use of the multiple rocket launcher.
The head of the Ukrainian military administration for the Luhansk region, Serhii Haidai, said that military depots of the enemy were being destroyed.
In the industrial zone of Luhansk, it was not at all quiet the previous night, he said on Wednesday. However, the Russian occupiers would continue to attack from all sides – with the air force and artillery. The large cities of the Donetsk region were particularly threatened, he said.
The Ukrainian armed forces also released a video of the deployment of the HIMARS system. Russian media had reported heavy explosions as well as a large fire near the city of Luhansk on Tuesday night.
According to the pro-Russian separatist authorities, the situation is tense, but air defences have it under control. According to the report, Ukraine also fired three Tochka-U missiles. There were no reports of casualties.
The US HIMARS system threatened the security of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic, the head of the region recognized as a state by Russia, Leonid Pasechnik, told Moscow state news agency TASS. “Fortunately, they don’t have many such weapons, so there is no reason to panic at all,” he said.
GNA