Ukrainian missile strike on Russian soil 'probably' used US weapons system

June 4 (UPI) — A strike by Ukrainian forces against a Russian air defense missile battery inside Russian territory was likely carried out using a US-made weapons system, a leading US think tank said on Tuesday.

The attack on the Russian S-300/400 battery north of the town of Belogorod, about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, this weekend was likely carried out with a high-mobility artillery rocket system, said the Institute for the Study of War in an article on X.

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The Washington-based nonprofit research group said the strike, captured by geolocation footage of two destroyed launchers and a damaged air defense command post in a field near the village of Kiselyovo, “was likely due to HIMARS”.

If confirmed, the strike would be the first time Ukraine has used U.S.-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia since U.S. President Joe Biden last week authorized their use for limited strikes against military targets on Russian territory that pose an imminent threat in the context of the Russian offensive. in the northeast of Ukraine.

“Russian sources increasingly claim that Ukrainian forces are using HIMARS to strike Belgorod Oblast since the United States partially lifted its restrictions on Ukraine's ability to use U.S.-supplied weapons. United to strike military targets in Russian border areas with Kharkiv Oblast,” the Institute for the Study of War said.

“Russian sources will likely continue to characterize any successful strike in Belgorod Oblast as a HIMARS strike, regardless of the system used.”

The HIMARS launch system fires either guided multiple launch rocket system rockets or a single missile from the Army's Long Range Tactical Missile System, making its use a potential violation of the HIMARS waiver Biden administration which has made clear that its “policy regarding prohibiting the use of ATACMS or long-range missiles” “Remote strikes inside Russia has not changed.”

A Ukrainian government official alluded to the new authorizations but did not explicitly say that U.S. weapons had been used.

“It burns magnificently. It's a Russian S-300. On Russian territory. The first days after the authorization to use Western weapons on enemy territory”, we can read in the caption of a photo published on social networks by Government Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

The ISW warned that allowing Western-supplied weapons to be used against Russia was “crucial for Ukraine to repel Russian glide bomb and missile strikes against the city of Kharkiv”, supporting the Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's plans to push harder on Ukraine's Western partners to ease restrictions on how weapons can be used. be used and given the green light to hit targets inside Russia.

The call comes as Italy announced it would provide Ukraine with a second Samp/T anti-ballistic missile air defense system – Europe's answer to the US Patriot missile system – which has the capacity to track dozens of targets and intercept 10 simultaneously.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that shooting at targets on Russian soil with German and Western weapons would not “contribute to escalation.”

Germany, very cautious on this issue, reversed its position last week, like Washington, affirming that Ukraine could use the weapons supplied by Germany in the battle for the province of Kharkiv which is raging for almost a month.

“We are confident that this will not contribute to an escalation because – as (US President Joe Biden) also described – it is simply about being able to defend a big city like Kharkiv,” Scholz said in comments on Monday on a German radio.

Speculation about the HIMARS strike came a day after the Kremlin issued a stark warning about the risks of escalating the conflict and increasing the security threat posed by Ukraine's authorization to fire on Russia with weapons supplied by the United States.

“I would like to warn the American leadership against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.