Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the destruction of long-range weapons by the Ukrainian military at the Vostok Battalion, a pro-Russian separatist rebel unit in eastern Ukraine, Sputnik and Reuters reported on the 18th (local time).
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, in a statement on the same day, Minister Shoigu visited the Vostok Battalion and instructed the commander to give priority to destroying enemy long-range missiles and artillery with high-precision weapons, paying attention to the improved striking capabilities of the Vostok units. did,” he said.
Russia’s defense ministry also claimed that Ukrainian forces were bombarding a residential area in eastern Ukraine with long-range weapons and deliberately set fires to lawns and granaries.
The Vostok Battalion was established in May 2014, shortly after civil war broke out in the uprising of pro-Russian separatist rebels in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The unit’s commander at the time, Aleksandr Kodakovsky, claimed that the majority of the unit’s members were from eastern Ukraine, where there are many Russians.
However, in the West, suspicions have been raised that the Vostok unit included members of special forces under the General Reconnaissance Unit (GRU) of the Russian military who participated in the Second Chechen War and Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008.
Shoigu’s instructions may suggest that Russia regards the long-range weapons provided to Ukraine by the West as a real threat.
Earlier this month, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nevenza, had argued earlier this month that the US and Britain’s support of long-range artillery and multiple rocket launchers in Ukraine could expose civilians in eastern Ukraine to more severe shelling, Sputnik said.
According to the announcements from each country, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with 126 155mm howitzers and eight high-speed mobile artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) so far, and the Ukrainian Army has announced that it has hit the main targets of Russian forces with the Hymas. there is a bar
The UK also agreed to support the Multiple Launch Rocket Launcher (MLRS) with a range of 80 km.
/yunhap news
